Summer of Snow
by Rhino7
Summary: Kairi POV. SK. Post KH2. Riku keeps telling us he isn't crazy, and deep down, Sora and I know that. It's just...hard watching our best friend fade away. Schizophrenia warning.
1. Prelude

**Summer of Snow**

**By Rhino7**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. This is my first attempt at a non-OC and a first person POV, so bear with me. Kind reviews always welcome and appreciated! Kairi POV.**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter One: Prelude**

_I should have seen it coming._

_I should have known, should have suspected, should have noticed anything at all. There were signs, heaven knows there were signs, but I didn't see them. I hadn't paid close enough attention._

"_I'm very sorry." The lady in the white coat was saying. The tag on her coat read Dr. Sue Young._

_Sora's fingers closed more tightly around mine. He's just as terrified as I am. The right side of his face was still swelling, but he was refusing to put any ice on it._

"_But, he's going to be okay, right? It…It isn't permanent, is it?" Sora stammered, swallowing several times._

_Dr. Young's face softened sympathetically. It makes me want to slap the woman. She has no idea what we've been through. The stupid woman._

"_The chance for recovery is slim at best."_

"_And at worst?" Sora immediately asked._

_Her face softened further. I grit my teeth. "He never truly wakes up." She answered in what she apparently thinks is a consoling voice._

_Sora looked at me. I looked back, tears burning in my eyes. I'm trying to contain them, really I am, but I was never good at concealing my emotions like the boys did._

"_C-Can we see him?" Sora asked._

_Dr. Young paused for a long moment, eying us both. She seemed to be sizing us up, trying to see how much she thought we could take. I just glared back until she looked away._

"_I'd need to consult the other specialists." She said dismissively._

"_How long will that take?" I asked._

_She bit her lip, "Today may not be the best—"_

"_Please, we just want to talk to him." I pleaded._

"_He—He can't hear you in his state—"_

_Sora jumped to his feet, kicking the chair back behind him, "Stop saying that! You make it sound like he'll never get better!"_

_His outburst wasn't startling or surprising, but I still clasp his arm, trying to get him to sit down again. The harder he fights the truth, the harder it fights me, and the harder I have to fight to hold myself together._

_Dr. Young studies him carefully. No doubt she's been yelled at, threatened, and probably struck a few times because of her diagnoses. That didn't ease my anger with her at all. _

"_Schizophrenia isn't something you just recover from. It's a very complex and dominating illness that is both unpredictable and dangerous. It is beyond my control to allow you to see him right now."_

_I jumped up now, "Then talk to the specialists, right now."_

"_Miss—"_

"_Please." I'm pleading now._

_The doctor exhaled and rubbed the bridge of her nose, "Let me see what I can do."_

"_Thank you." Sora nods to her._

_She takes her little clipboard and leaves the office. Sora and I just stood there for a moment, staring at her desk before sinking back into the chairs. Sora had to set his right side up first._

_It's too quiet here, in this office, this hallway, this floor, this building. There's a sense of foreboding and tension. It feels like any disturbance in the sound level might cause some terrible accident. It's white everywhere too. I can't stand white. It's so bland and inanimate and it covers all the walls, doors, ceilings, and floors. _

"_What if she's right?" I finally spoke my deepest fear._

_Sora looked at me, "Right about what?"_

"_That—what if he doesn't—what if he can't…get better?" It hurts to even speak it._

_Sora narrowed his eyes stubbornly, "He will. He always does."_

"_What if this time is different? This isn't a cut or a bruise or even a broken bone. This is deeper." My voice breaks slightly._

_Sora put his arm around me and held me close. It hurts. My heart hurts. I lost my two best friends once, and barely got them back in one piece. I swore I'd never let them put themselves in that kind of danger if I could help it. Now, I was on the verge of losing one of them all over again._

_We stayed like that for several minutes, with nothing but the unusually loud ticks of the second hand on the clock making any noise. The door opened and Dr. Young walked back in. We both immediately sat up straighter, awaiting her decision._

"_I talked to the other doctors. They said it will be okay for you to see him, but visiting hours end in half an hour and you'll have to stay outside the room." She didn't mean to sound harsh, but her words still hurt. We had to stay outside his room?_

_We both rose and followed her out. The blinding white of the corridor took us off guard but we kept right on her heels. Sora kept his hand clasped tightly around mine the whole time._

_It was an unearthly quiet in the hallways. Several windows gave views into the rooms beyond, but there weren't as many doors. I can't help but let my gaze wander through the windows. The patients are all so vacant and shell faced. _

_They wear white uniforms and glazed expressions. They sit in chairs or on the floor or stand near the windows to the hall or the outside world. Just staring. A few are moving their lips or running their fingers over some of the objects in the room. A few even look up as we pass. They cannot see us. The window is only one way. They see only themselves, if they see anything at all._

_A choking noise escapes me and I bite it back, not making eye contact when Sora looks at me with concern. He should know by now what's wrong. It's all so wrong._

_We walked down the hallway and up two flights of stairs. With every step, my heart skips and my lungs burn. I'm both terrified and desperate now. The whiteness around us throws Sora's face into sharp relief. The bruise on his face is round and purple and black. He should have gone to the hospital, but he couldn't, not yet. Just like me, he had to know._

_Dr. Young stopped outside a white, windowless door. She turned to us. "I just want to warn you. This isn't who you remember. He can't see or hear you and won't be able to respond at all to you. The glass prevents that, if nothing else prevents that."_

_This woman's tone is really starting to grate on my nerves. Sora and I just jerked our heads in acknowledgement and impatience. She nodded in defeat._

"_Prepare yourselves."_

_She unlocked the door and walked through. We still follow her. This hallway isn't substantially different from the one we just left. It's all still white, although the windows are much larger here, and the views beyond are much more disturbing._

_The patients in here are confined in empty, white rooms lined with foam or cushions. Many of them are restrained in jackets. Some are thrashing around, screaming mutely. Some are just sitting despondently in a corner, staring blankly. Some are rocking back and forth, muttering to themselves with their eyes closed._

_This is a memory I will take to my grave. It still haunts my nightmares and torments me even in consciousness. He just kept telling us he wasn't crazy. We'd never truly not believed him and even now, we still thought there was a slim chance there had been a mistake. A wrong diagnoses or mixed up test results._

_Dr. Young slows to a stop outside one of the windows. Sora and I stopped as well, though neither of us want to be the first to look inside. Which will it be? Thrashing and screaming? Sitting and staring? Rocking and muttering? None of them are comforting. This isn't made any easier by the doctor standing there watching us, almost like deciding if we were schizophrenic too. Just the word raises bile to my throat._

_Together, Sora and I turned and looked into the room. It looks more like a cell. Pure white tiles on the ceiling and floor. The walls are white and coated with foam. At first I don't even see him. Then I do._

_He's sitting against the left adjacent wall, staring across to the right wall. He's in one of those horrible jackets, but he isn't fighting it. He looks terrible!_

_His skin is pale and sallow. His hair is falling, matted and unkempt, over his shoulders and across his eyes. His eyes look hollow, sunken in dark circles and bloodshot from all the white surroundings. He looks weak and dazed. I remember it had taken one shot from the tazer and two shots of sedatives to tranquilize him._

"_I'll leave you alone. You have twenty minutes." Dr. Young said and walked off._

_I release my held breath and peer closer into the room. Why? Why had this happened? How? Why had it happened to him? Hadn't he been through enough?_

_Thunk. Sora dropped his head against the glass, staring through it at his friend. The sound must have carried, because the patient looks up._

_He looks bewildered at first, staring at a point somewhere three feet to my right, with Sora on my left. His jaw's slack and gives him a blank, despondent look. Then, slowly, he starts to sit up more._

"_It's us, me and Sora." I whisper, barely audible over the air conditioning._

_I know he can't hear or see me or Sora, but he slowly manages to get to his feet. He walks over, swaying heavily and wavering off course from us to the left, but he knows someone's on the other side._

_His lips are moving, but it's too fast for me to pick up._

"_Hey, buddy." Sora's talking more to himself than to him. "You're gonna be fine, right? Those doctors, they don't know what they're talking about. Schizophrenia. I bet they made all that up. It's a sick joke if you ask me."_

_I bite my lip. He's squirming in the white jacket now, and he's breathing harder. He knows it's us and not doctors. He knows his friends are here, even if he can't see them. He's starting to look frantic and hot tears spring to my eyes fresh and resolved. I can't hold them back this time._

_The bubbles of moisture overpower my eyelashes and fight down my cheek. I hate it. I hate that I cry and Sora doesn't. I sniff involuntarily and feel the tears drip from my jaw. Sora jerks suddenly and I look at him. He's wiping his eyes furiously, but I see how red his eyes are. It doesn't help my emotional self control at all._

_As we stand on one side of the glass, breaking inside, he stands on the other, staring past us, through us, beyond us, not even at us. His mouth still moves very fast and his eyes are darting around now too. I think I can see my name formed on his lips a few times and Sora's as well._

_I can't take it much longer. My tears are blurring my vision now and he's just a grayish blur. I wipe my eyes once fiercely and look back at him. He's leaned his forehead against the glass, staring through it, almost at me, but not quite. His lips' movements slow and now I can tell what he's saying._

"_I'm not crazy." He keeps repeating it, over and over, incessantly._

_I leaned my forehead against the glass where his is, "Riku."_

_He doesn't hear me. He just stares and repeats, "I'm not crazy."_


	2. Three Months Earlier

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine. Yay for positive reviews! Thus, I update. The first chapter was depressing, but it's not like that the whole time, as you'll find out. Kind reviews welcome!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Two: Three Months Earlier**

We had been day dreaming about the end of school since Christmas vacation. To be able to run out of those high school doors and into the fresh air and hot sunlight of summer was the only thing that kept the three of us going. It was fitting that on our last day, it was storming.

After the madness of the war with the Heartless and then Organization XIII, school had seemed more like a prison than ever. We had to go here, go there, learn this, study that, and no one else on the island even remembered that our world had been taken away and that we three had fought so hard and lost so much to get it back.

I looked at the clock over Mr. Gibson's head. It was five minutes before the final bell. I'm a good student, truly, but he was STILL lecturing. Didn't he know that no one was paying attention? I shifted around a little and looked over at Sora. He was sitting with his chin in his hands, staring at Mr. Gibson, but it was obvious his mind was worlds away from the classroom. I wondered what he was thinking about: Disney Castle, tournaments in the Underworld, or the Altar of Naught perhaps?

"…and that is why you should always be careful to wear plenty of sunscreen…" Mr. Gibson, still giving his Safety First for Summer speech.

On my right, Tidus gave a wide, obvious yawn and flopped his head back on Selphie's desk. She leaned away from him and made a face, but then she resumed her staring at the clock.

A fork of lightning flashed outside and the instant boom of thunder made us all sit up a little straighter.

After the longest five minutes of my life, the minute hand strikes the top of the clock and the bell rings. I've never heard such a wonderful sound. Mr. Gibson looked startled that time had flown for him.

"All right, remember to be careful, look both ways before crossing…" He called after us as we all scrambled for the door. Another bolt of lightning crackled outside.

"And don't carry aluminum bats!" Sora added, earning a few chuckles.

I got up and waited for the herd of students to thin before leaving.

"Have a nice summer, Kairi." Mr. Gibson said as I walked past his desk.

"You too, sir."

I went to my locker and got out my backpack, unloading the remaining junk in my locker and stuffing it in. Selphie leaned against the locker beside me.

"Got any big plans this summer?" She asked, watching the students scramble by.

I shrugged, "Not really. After all that happened last summer, I don't think I'm up for any more excitement."

"Last summer?" That's right, she doesn't remember. No one does.

I quickly recovered, "Oh, yeah, uh, the raft fiasco, remember?"

Selphie giggled, "Oh, right, THAT. Yeah, don't try that again this year, okay?"

"I won't." Never, ever, ever again, that's for sure.

I finished cleaning out my locker and started towards the front doors. The mass exodus of students had already swept across the grounds and were swarming into town. Some of them ducked under trees to avoid getting wet, but it was a futile effort. The rain was falling in big drops and was nothing short of a torrential downpour.

"Hey, Kairi, wait up!" Sora caught up to me and looked outside. "I feel to urge to build an ark."

I laughed, which was apparently what he had been after. "Where's Riku?" I asked.

Sora gestured behind him, "Still taking Johnson's exam."

I winced, "Yuck."

Sora grimaced, "Yeah," He quickly brightened, "Sucks to be him. Come on, let's get out of here!"

"Shouldn't we wait for him?"

"He can drive now, remember?" Sora made a sour face.

We left the school, running through the falling rain despite the fact that getting soaked was inevitable. We reached the beach, but the ocean was too choppy to go to the smaller island off the coast, so we just sat down under an overhang of rocks.

"Amazing." I remarked, looking at Sora. "You're soaking wet and your hair hasn't moved at all."

Sora shrugged, "It's talent."

Without warning, he leaned over and kissed me. This wasn't the first time we'd kissed, but it was always so spontaneous and abrupt that it got me every time.

We just sat there for a while, watching it rain and talking. We did a lot of that, talking. Sora and Riku were the only ones I could talk to about what had happened, and they remembered so much more than I did. Sora usually did most of the talking. A lot of the time, Riku didn't talk at all, but neither of us pressed him about it.

"So then, he starts going for Riku, right?" Sora was going on animatedly, on his feet. "And he was all 'We'll go together' or whatever, and starts to attack. But I was like, no way!" He swung his arm around like he was holding an invisible sword, attacking the air in front of him. "So I had my Keyblade and Way to the Dawn, and I just go Cloud Strife Style on him. 'Not so Superior now!' I said." He started swatting at the air again, throwing in some 'argh' and 'hiya!'.

"And he still thinks he's so bad, hovering around with his red laser swords, but I stood my ground, protecting Riku, and then—"

WHAM.

Riku dove out from behind me and tackled Sora to the sand. Sora yelped and they rolled a few times in the wet sand.

"Funny. That's not how I remember it." Riku said calmly, disabling Sora easily.

Sora spat out a mouthful of sand as Riku pressed his face into it, "Get off me!"

Riku laughed, "For all your talk, I sure snuck up on you easily enough."

Sora struggled, but in vain, "I knew you were there the whole time!"

"Yeah, I bet." Riku looked at me, as if for verification.

I shrugged, "He looked pretty off guard to me."

"Traitor!" Sora bellowed.

"Maybe if you—" Riku stopped dead, staring through the trees past me.

Instinctively, I turned and looked into the woods as well. Sand hit my back and I looked at the boys again. Sora had taken advantage of Riku's distraction and reversed their position, so now Riku was in the sand and Sora had him pinned.

"Wait, wait, stop stop!" Riku wasn't laughing anymore. He looked scared. Sora heard the tone in his voice and let him go, standing up.

"What is it?" I asked, getting up and looking behind me.

"Did you see that?" Riku asked, pointing into the trees.

Sora and I looked, but it was dark from the rain. "No. What was it?" Sora was scanning the trees, alert and suspicious. I stood between them, looking around also.

Riku had gotten really tense, "It looked like…it couldn't have been…No, I don't think…"

"Riku, whole sentences. What was it?" Sora repeated.

Riku paused, and then rubbed his eyes and looked around again, "It…It was nothing. It must have been my imagination." He didn't sound convinced.

I caught his eye and looked at him with concern. He ran a hand through his drenched hair and glanced at the woods one more time before turning his back on it, smile back in place.

"All right, now how did you single handedly defeat Xemnas again?"

Sora was still wrong footed over the sudden change and blinked. "Riku, shouldn't we just make sure—"

"It was only my imagination." Riku was still grinning, but there was a warning in his eyes that plainly told Sora to drop it.

Sora barely exchanged a look with me, shrugged, and slipped back into battle-mode. "I was just filling Kairi in on what happened against Xemnas, that's all."

"Oh please continue, it was so interesting." Riku flopped down on the sand beside me, giving Sora a look of mock enthrallment.

Sora glared, "You wanna have a go right now?"

"I don't know," Riku sat up, "Kairi may have to protect me from your almighty wrath."

Sora looked at me. I struck a karate pose, "Flying Eagle attacks Little Monkey!"

"Yeah, you show him." Riku clapped.

Sora waved me off, "Nah, come on, Riku. I've gotta get education off my mind."

"That won't take long." Riku stood up, grinning. "What's the record now, 3 and 12?"

"Four and 12!" Sora corrected indignantly.

"No, that time in the caves doesn't count." Riku shook his head.

"Why not?"

"I was ASLEEP."

I laughed, "You're sneaking up on each other while the other's asleep? In the caves? What, did you two need to be alone?" I lifted an eyebrow.

They both scowled at me. "You've been reading that stuff on the Internet again, haven't you?" Sora said bitterly.

I lifted my shoulders and stood up, dusting myself off, "I'm just kidding. We should probably start heading home now."

"Yeah, probably. Time to enjoy summer. No more stuffy classrooms or batty teachers for three months!" Sora punched the air triumphantly, "Aw, that figures. It stops raining now."

We started towards the path to the village but I turned, "Riku, you coming?"

Riku was standing stock still, staring into the woods again. He was actually in mid step, like a statue. He wasn't looking around either; he was staring fixedly at one point in the trees.

"Riku?" Sora asked, smiling uneasily.

With what appeared to be a lot of effort, Riku turned and looked at us, "What?"

Sora put his hands behind his head, "You just zoned out or something. Are you okay?"

Riku glanced back at the trees, blinked, shook his head, and started walking after us, "Yeah."

"Good, you're starting to freak me out a little. I thought you were seeing Heartless again or something." Sora said, carrying on.

I looked at Riku. He didn't look fine. He looked like he'd seen a ghost or something from his nightmares. Was he still having the nightmares? I knew it wasn't my place to ask, but I was still worried. I wasn't supposed to know about the nightmares, Sora didn't, but how else could you explain the dark circles that had been growing under his eyes lately?

"Riku, have you been getting enough sleep? You look tired." I asked anyway.

He eyed me for a second and then shoved his hands in his pockets, "Not really. Those exams took hours to study for."

Sora laughed, "You actually studied? Call up the newspaper, boy dies studying for test!"

Riku laughed, but not genuinely. I was still not convinced he was all right, but it was summer, and I had a lot on my mind already. I guess I thought it would work itself out.


	3. Burning Cold

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. We're beginning the descent here, so off we go! Positive reviewers are beautiful people. XD**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Three: Burning Cold**

May rolled into June, but the temperature didn't. I found it nearly impossible to wear shorts and almost always wore a jacket when I went with the others to the island. Around midday it would warm up, but the mornings and evenings were always just cool enough to be uncomfortable.

Two weeks after school had gotten out, I sat beside a bonfire with Selphie and a guy from my Biology class named Trent. It was Selphie's birthday and it was too cool to have a pool party, so she'd thrown a big bonfire party instead. I was clinging to my jacket and trying to keep my teeth from chattering. Selphie and Trent were…keeping each other warm.

"Well, this is cozy." Sora sat down beside me and looked over at Selphie and Trent, "When was the last time they came up for air?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. Have you seen Riku?"

"Yeah, he was wandering around, looking for Wakka I think."

I paused, lost in my thoughts while Sora jammed some marshmallows on sticks and propped them over the fire. "Do you think he's okay?" I blurted.

"Who?" Sora threw some dry leaves into the flames.

"Riku. He's been acting strange." I watched the leaves shrivel up in the fire.

"Riku's a strange boy." Sora shrugged.

"I'm serious."

Sora propped his elbows on his knees, "Well, he has been a little paranoid lately. Every time I see him he's looking around all suspicious and twitchy. You think Kelly from third hour is stalking him again?"

He wasn't taking this seriously. I punched him in the arm, "I'm really serious, Sora. Do you think maybe his parents are fighting or something?"

Sora grew quiet, "No. They get along. You haven't known them as long as I have."

"Then why is he so—" I trailed off, spotting Riku walking over, car keys chiming on his belt.

"Show off." Sora grumbled, eying the keys.

Riku smirked as he approached and fingered the keys, "Hey, Sora, Kairi." He looked at Selphie and Trent, "Get a room, you two."

Not missing a beat, Trent flipped a finger at Riku, who shrugged and sat next to me.

"You didn't even drive here, did you?" Sora spat.

Riku leaned back against a tree trunk, "You caught me. I walked five miles with my keys in the middle of the night just to carry my keys and taunt you, Sora."

Sora made a face and took the marshmallows off the fire, handing one to me. The wood was hot and I held onto it, teeth freely chattering now.

"It's not supposed to be this cold in June. What is it, forty degrees?" I stammered irritably.

Sora mumbled something, but his mouth was full of marshmallow. Riku exhaled, "I'm not cold. I'm actually kind of warm out here."

I blinked, incredulous, "What are you, part snow beast?"

He chuckled, "Maybe. Here." He pulled off his jacket and handed it to me. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt under it.

"No, Riku. It's freezing out here. You'll get sick." I argued.

"Nah. Take it. I'm not cold, really."

Half reluctantly and half desperately I took the coat and pulled it on over my own. It was still warm and deceptively thick. Slowly my teeth stopped chattering. Sora glowered.

"Trying to make me look bad?" He said.

Riku shifted, "And you called me paranoid yesterday?"

"You were talking to trees, man!"

Riku looked at him sharply, "Someone was sneaking around in there. I had to check it out and make sure it wasn't that Kelly girl again."

He was making light of the situation, I could tell. Something was really bothering him. When he shifted, I glanced at him and saw that he was slightly red in the face and sweat was beading his forehead.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He rubbed his forehead and winced, "I just have a headache. And it's hot." He stood up.

Sora finally swallowed the marshmallow, "There's no way you can be hot out here."

"Well, I am and—Okay, I KNOW you heard that." Riku jumped, pointing at the woods.

Sora and I both turned, looked behind us and looked back at Riku.

"Heard what?" Sora tilted his head, sticking another marshmallow.

Riku was looking panicked again, sweaty, but trembling now. He rubbed his temples, looking confused now too.

I stood up, "Riku, what are you hearing?"

"It's—you seriously don't hear that?" He kept holding one hand to his head.

"Riku, you look like you have a fever. Sit down and I'll get you some water or something."

"No, no, I'm fine, really. Thanks, but I'm all right, Kairi." He looked at us.

I tried not to look too concerned. Sora had stuck some more marshmallows over the fire, watching Riku warily.

"Riku, sit down, have a marshmallow." Sora offered. "Once the—"

"Did you see that?" Riku cut him off, pointing again at the trees.

Sora automatically reached for his belt to summon the Keyblade, a crime of habit, and I spun around. There was nothing there. Before either of us could comment, Riku had bolted from my side and into the woods.

"Riku!" I called after him.

Sora jumped to his feet and chased after him. I had no choice but to follow, leaving the fire behind. The trees seemed to swallow the light, causing everything to fall to pitch blackness as soon as we'd left the circle around the fire. I couldn't see Riku, and I could barely see Sora ahead of me.

"Riku, slow down, man!" Sora called after him.

We burst out into another bonfire area. A group of teens were gathered around it. Tidus was standing with his arms up in the middle, apparently in the middle of a terrifying ghost story. Everyone screamed when we ran out of the trees behind them.

"Then, he lifted the axe and—What's wrong with you guys?" Tidus asked, seeing our breathless faces.

"Where did Riku go?" Sora panted.

"Huh?"

"He came running through here. Where'd he go?"

"Oh, he's over there." Tidus pointed and turned back to his audience, "He was covered in blood and carrying an axe…"

I heard the girls in the group scream as Tidus continued, but I tromped through the leaves with Sora to where Riku was sitting alone next to the cooler. He'd pulled out a bottle of water, and it looked like he'd splashed half of it on himself before drinking the other half.

"What was that about? You nearly gave us heart attacks!" Sora scolded.

Riku was pressing the heels of his hands over his eyes, "I don't know."

"What was it?" I asked gently. "In the woods?"

"It—It was nothing."

"Must have been a lot of nothing to make you chase it like that." Sora said, still catching his breath.

Riku sat up and finished the bottle of water, "Just forget it."

"But we—"

"I said forget it." Riku said sternly.

Sora clamped his mouth shut, looked at me, and dug a soda out of the cooler, "Whatever."

There were two other bonfires besides Tidus's, and they were jammed full of people who were huddling together to stay warm. Tidus was gesticulating wildly by the fire and all the girls looked trepid, wide eyed. As if on cue, Tidus seemed to reach a high point, and Wakka came flying out of the woods with a hairy mask on. The girls shrieked and scrambled to their feet, running away.

Once they were gone, Wakka pulled the mask off and gave Tidus a high five. Their laughter and imitations of screaming girls carried over to my group.

"Well, this is awkward level three." Sora muttered, kicking at some dirt on the ground.

Riku stood up and ruffled his hair, "I think I'm going nuts."

"No argument here." Sora added with a wry smile.

I tilted my head. How did boys do that? How could something be so obviously wrong here, and they joke it off? I still don't completely understand it.

Riku pulled a bottle of Tylenol from his pocket and threw back two pills without water before pocketing the bottle again.

"How many of those have you taken?" I asked, seeing the bottle was only half full.

"I started having some bad headaches a few days ago. It's nothing." He waved me off.

"Hey, Riku." Sora asked, a mischievous grin splitting his face.

Riku had reached into the cooler and pulled out another bottle of water, "What now?"

"Those girls are gonna be really mad once they realize that was Wakka."

"Yeah."

"So how much do you think they'll love us if we get him and Tidus back for them?"

I snorted loudly, standing up, "What are you gonna do? Put on a mask and scare them back?"

Riku was grinning now too, "No, I got it. Sora, grab the other side of this cooler."

Sora clapped his hands, "Nice."

They both gripped either end of the cooler, which was sloshing with freezing water and ice. I scrambled out of the way, 'What are you doing?"

"Having some fun." Sora said, lifting a finger to his lips.

I settled for giving them both highly disapproving looks as they snuck up behind Tidus and Wakka, who were still laughing at their little prank on the girls. I should have stopped them, but part of me wanted to see what happened. I wasn't sure if they'd really go through with it. Who was I kidding? It was Sora and Riku.

The boys hefted the cooler up to their shoulders as they reached Tidus and Wakka. Wakka managed to turn in time to see the ice tumble out of the cooler. Tidus was caught completely off guard. The water crashed out and splashed up over the fire, extinguishing half of it. Tidus and Wakka howled from the pain of the cold and rolled over on the ground.

Sora and Riku almost fell over laughing, holding onto each other for support. Sora flashed a smile in my direction. I couldn't help it. I was laughing too.

"I'm gonna kill you, ya!" Wakka grabbed Sora's ankle and dragged him down.

Tidus was still thrashing around, trying to rid himself of the icy water.

"Riku, he's got me!" Sora cried out tragically.

Riku backed up, "Every man for himself, sorry."

Sora and Wakka started up an ice fight and Tidus, soaked anyway, joined in. Soon ice was flying in all directions and laughter echoed through the empty woods. I didn't hear or see anything else.


	4. Drifting Away

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. For some reason I think this chapter turned out awkward, but oh well. Reviews are love. XD**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Four: Drifting Away**

I didn't even think about the events preceding the ice fight, they didn't even cross my mind until two weeks later, and then it was only as a passing thought. Riku thought he had seen something and heard something. That happened sometimes to everybody. I should have paid better attention.

"Oh, oh! I think I got one!" Sora gripped the pole tightly.

"By one do you mean a fish or another clump of sea weed?" Riku chided.

I sat between them braiding thalassa shells into a bracelet. I had really developed a knack for it lately.

"Haha, you're hilarious." Sora muttered, reeling in his line and surveying his prize.

Riku looked at it, "Well, that's an improvement."

I looked up and saw a chunk of wood dangling from Sora's line. I stifled a laugh.

Riku tilted his head, "If you look at it sideways, it's kind of SHAPED like a fish."

Sora threw the chunk of wood at him, "I hate fishing."

"You're only saying that because you haven't caught anything."

"He'll catch something. I bet he catches a fish twice as big as you are." I commented.

Riku shook his head and Sora beamed, "Yeah, you said it, Kairi."

We'd been floating around between the islands for a few hours now. There weren't many fish; the unseasonably cool weather was keeping them too deep to catch. But, lucky for me, the people I hang out with have other ways of entertaining themselves.

"Gah!" The boat rocked and water splashed up over the lip of it.

I looked up in time to see Riku finish shoving Sora over into the water. He surfaced a few seconds later.

"You jerk! What was that for?" Sora spat out a mouthful of water.

"Maybe now you can find the fish better." Riku laughed.

I rolled my eyes. Boys were so immature.

"Yeah, well, we'll see how you like it." Sora threatened and dove under the water.

I looked at Riku as the boat rocked again. "He wouldn't." I gasped.

Riku leaned over one edge of the boat, "I think he would."

The boat jerked violently and started to capsize. I screamed as ocean water flooded over the side and Riku and I both toppled over into the water. I sunk a few feet before reorienting myself in the water and kicking for the surface.

"Oh, I'm going to kill him!" I cried out as Riku surfaced beside me.

A pair of hands grabbed my sides under water and I yelped. Sora came up beside me, laughing and shaking water from his eyes. I started laughing too.

"Nope sorry," Sora said, "This doesn't improve my fishing skills…Riku?"

Riku had disappeared under the water.

"Riku? Where'd you go?" I asked, treading water as Sora swam over to the boat to rock it right side up.

The water was cool, but warmer underneath. Sora managed to flop the boat back with its hull under water and I looked around. Riku didn't surface anywhere around us. Had something happened?

Sora swore loudly and took me off guard. I turned and he was sucked underwater. For a split second, my insides turned to ice, and then both boys bobbed back up, splashing water at each other like ten year olds.

"Uncle! Uncle!" Sora cried out, surrendering to Riku's onslaught of water.

I swam over and gripped the edge of the boat, "Aren't we getting a little old for this?"

Sora splashed me in reply as I climbed back into the boat. Riku splashed Sora again. Sora, of course, had to splash him in retaliation. Thus began the battle again. I sat back in the boat and let them go at it until they were exhausted, which was quite a while.

"Five and 12! Five and 12!" Sora managed to yell through the water.

I had sat back and was working on my bracelet again, letting boys be boys.

"Okay, okay! Hey, stop! Time out! Stop!" Riku stopped splashing.

"Not until you surrender!"

"No, seriously. Stop! Something's—"

"I'm not falling for that!"

I didn't look up, but finished threading the string through the last bead and tying it off in a knot.

"Riku!" Sora's voice had changed. He sounded panicked now.

I sat up and looked into the water. Riku had disappeared under the water again.

"What happened?" I asked.

Sora tread water, "I dunno. He's probably trying to sneak up on me again. Do you see him?"

I looked around the edges of the boat, but couldn't see anything besides blue ocean. "No."

Sora bobbed around for a bit, "Aw, c'mon, Riku. This isn't fun. Come up and face me like a man!"

Riku came to the surface, gasping for air. I could immediately tell that something was wrong. He wasn't moving right and couldn't stay afloat.

"Riku, that's not funny. Why are you—" Sora stopped, "Riku?"

"Something's—wrong—I can't—" Riku slipped under the surface again.

"Sora, get him!" I jumped up, nearly diving off the boat myself.

Sora quickly paddled around and dove under briefly before coming back up, holding Riku up.

"Here." I reached down and hooked my arms under his shoulders.

Together, Sora and I pulled Riku back into the boat. He was shaking and pale.

"Riku, what was that?" Sora climbed up into the boat.

"Are you okay?" I asked, feeling my heart slowly return to normal pace.

"I—I don't know. I just—I can't feel my left leg or anything from the elbow down on my right arm."

"What, they just went numb?" Sora asked.

I gripped Riku's arm and shook it, "Anything?"

"Nothing." Riku sounded panicky and slapped his leg, "It's like it's not there."

I looked at Sora, "We need to get back to the island. You need to see a doctor, Riku."

He sat up, "No, it's okay."

"You can't feel your leg or your arm. That's not okay." I said firmly.

Riku looked to Sora, who looked indecisive. I glared at him. Sora snatched up the oars, "I agree with Kairi. You—you should see a doctor."

Riku groaned, "It usually goes away in a few minutes. I just—"

"This has happened before? How often?" My voice cracked a little because I'm so shocked.

He looked up at me, "Kairi, it's no big deal. Sora, help me out here."

Sora took one look at my face and shrugged to Riku, "Hell hath no fury, bud, sorry."

Riku rolled his eyes, "Seriously, Kairi, I'm fine. It's not—" He stopped mid sentence and closed his eyes.

"Riku?" I asked, leaning forward.

"It's okay. Just a headache." He bent over, holding his head.

"Looks more like a serious migraine." Sora said, positioning the oars and aiming for the main island.

Riku groaned and made a strained gagging noise.

"Riku? Riku, say something." I urged.

Riku looked up sharply and over my shoulder. "What?"

"Riku?" I tried to move into his line of sight, but he seemed to be staring through me.

"N-No, I…You can't…don't—" He scrambled backwards, towards the bow.

"Riku, what the—" Sora said, still rowing, "Snap out of it, man."

I reached forward to calm him, but he slapped my arm away. He stared forward again, looking terrified. Then he winced and lifted his hands to his head again. Before either me or Sora could do anything, he'd slumped back against the side.

"Hey!" Sora sat up.

"Sora, keep rowing. I'll check on him." I crawled forward and gripped Riku's shoulder, "Riku?"

He jerked and sat bolt upright, "What? What happened?"

I rubbed his shoulder gently, "It's okay. You passed out."

He looked around wildly and out of breath, "H-How long have we been out here?"

"A-A few hours."

"But—we were in the caves."

"The caves? No, Riku. We've been fishing." I looked at Sora. He looked as scared as I felt.

Half an hour later we sat in the living room of Sora's house while his mom stood in front of Riku. He kept saying he couldn't remember ever going out fishing with us and couldn't explain his wild behavior before passing out either.

Sora's mom pulled the thermometer out of his mouth and looked at it, "Honey, you're completely healthy. No fever, nothing unusual."

"Mom, he was freaking out and yelling at thin air." Sora argued.

"And he can hear you." Riku mumbled, pulling his shirt back on.

Sora's mom nibbled her fingernail, "Well, I'd try to blame the loss of consciousness on the heat, but there isn't any. How do you feel right now?"

Riku shrugged, "Stupid."

He'd regained full use of his limbs just as we'd reached the shore. The headache had persisted, but Sora's mom had loaded him with aspirin, and he was back to normal.

"I don't have to go to the hospital, do I?" Riku groaned.

"Well, you're fine now, so I don't think so. Take it easy for a while. You three stay here while I go call Riku's parents." She left.

Riku fumbled with his shoe laces and flexed his fingers a few times, "What is wrong with me?"

I reached over and took his hand, "Nothing's wrong with you. Right, Sora?"

Sora folded his arms, "Of course not. Maybe it's the weird weather messing with your head. I mean, I've been kind of twitchy lately too."

"Do you see things, hear things, pass out, and have migraines?" Riku muttered.

Sora frowned, "No, that's just you."

His mom walked back in, "I couldn't get a hold of them, but I don't want you driving home. I'll take you and Kairi home and your dad can get your car later, okay?"

Riku looked a little sour at the idea, but Sora just smirked, "Not so hot without your wheels, eh?"

"Oh shut up." Riku snarled.

I sat beside Riku in the back seat while Sora sat in the front with his mom as she drove us home.

"Riku, what exactly are you seeing and hearing?" I asked quietly.

Riku looked away from the window at me, "Hm? Oh…it—it doesn't matter."

"Riku, please, just tell me."

"You'll think I'm crazy."

"Too late." Sora jeered from the front seat.

Riku bit his lip and whispered to me, "Xehanort. He's here. On the island."


	5. Phantom

**Disclaimer: I own everything! Nah, I'm just kidding, I'm dirt poor. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. I was overcome with the desire to throw some fluff in there, so I hope you enjoyed that. I'm a SoraxKairi fan, so sue me. Actually, please don't, because I have no money. Reviews are love.**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Five: Phantom**

A few days after the fishing incident, Riku started staying home more often. His mom told me he was feeling under the weather, but she'd seemed really nervous.

I didn't tell Sora about what Riku had told me in the car about Xehanort. I was afraid that if I voiced it, it might actually be true. But how could it be? Xehanort was dead…gone, banished. So Xehanort couldn't be on the island because he was dead, which was comforting. That meant Riku was hallucinating or suffering from delusion, which was anything but comforting.

These thoughts kept swimming around in my head, keeping me awake at night and distracted during the day. Sora only voiced his concern about Riku once in the week following the incident. I guess he thought things would work out as long as he didn't fret about it. Maybe that was just how I was thinking. The problem was, we were both realizing that this wasn't going away. If anything, it was getting worse. He'd mentioned the caves…what did that mean?

"…and then, I was thinking we could head up to that cliff where the rockslide was. What do you think?" Sora asked.

I answered absentmindedly, "Hm? Oh, sounds great."

Even Sora recognized my lukewarm answer, "Or we could just watch a movie."

"Okay."

"Sip some wine in front of a sunset."

I wasn't catching on to his sarcasm, too lost in my own thoughts, "Yeah."

"Run around naked screaming 'Long live Kingdom Hearts'."

I finally snapped out of it, "What?"

Sora was looking at me with one eye narrowed, "What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been distracted all day. What's the matter?"

I looked up. I had been gazing off into the horizon again. Sora and I were sitting on the edge of the pier looking out at the ocean. It was around midday, but we were both clutching our jackets and the water was too cold to dangle our legs in.

I looked at him, flashed a quick smile, leaned in, and kissed him, "I'm okay. What were you saying?"

Sora frowned, "You're not getting out of it that easily. Come on, something's bugging you."

I let my smile droop, "It's Riku."

Sora acted like he'd been stabbed in the heart and toppled onto his back on the pier. "He beats me at everything. He's gotten to you too! Maybe you and Kelly can make picket signs that say 'Give us Riku!'."

I laughed and slapped his leg, "It's not like that and you know it."

He made a face, "Yeah, but it's still fun to bicker."

A cool wind rushed up from the water and I withdrew my legs, "Why is it so cold?"

"Because Riku's not here to spice things up for you." Sora chuckled, sitting up and scrambling away before I could slap him again.

I got to my feet and we started walking down the pier to the island again. "Seriously, it's been thirty degrees for the last month and a half. July is supposed to be hot, isn't it?"

Sora stepped off the pier onto the beach, "I don't know."

I jumped down after him and we walked along the shore, kicking sand up into the air, "What were you asking me earlier? Something about running around naked?"

Sora smirked and nudged my shoulder, "You wish. I was asking about this weekend."

That was right! I'd completely forgotten that Sora had been planning some sort of little getaway for a while. I pretended not to be taken off guard by the conversation.

"What about it?" I asked as innocently as possible.

He put his hands behind his head as we walked, "I was thinking we could go up to that cliff, you know, the one where that rockslide was a few years ago."

I smiled and nodded, burying my fists deep in my jacket pockets to warm them, "That sounds great, as long as it isn't this cold."

"I dunno. I kind of like it like this. We could snuggle to keep warm." He pretended to cuddle up to me.

I shouldered him off, "I'm sure you'd like that."

"Ah, that hurts." He grabbed me up in a bear hug and swung me around.

I staggered as I swung off balance and fell backwards against the makeshift hut built against the rocks. My head bumped it hard. "Ow!"

"Oh, sorry!" Sora almost fell against me, but regained his balance, "Are you okay?"

I rubbed the side of my head, "Yeah. I may file an abuse charge though."

Sora leaned in close and kissed my hair where my head had hit the wood. We were really close together, and he was warm. I closed my eyes.

"Better?" Sora asked.

I hooked my arms around his neck and grinned stupidly, "Better."

He leaned in and kissed me on the lips this time. I tilted my head to the side and kissed back. We stayed like that for a while. The wind crept up again and lifted some sand against our legs and rustled our hair…well, my hair, Sora's hair didn't move as much. I could feel little pinpricks of cold on my arms and my neck. We parted and he looked down at his arm. There were wet spots on it, as well as on my jacket.

"It's raining." He said, looking up at the sky.

I laughed, "You've always had a wonderful grasp of the obvious, Sora."

He stuck his tongue out, and slid his hand into mine. We swung our hands together as we walked over to the boats.

"So, is Riku still at home today?" I asked as we climbed into the boats to head back to the main island.

"Yeah. I called him this morning and got his dad. Sounds like he's really down with something." He must have read my thoughts because he added, "He's a big boy, Kairi. I'm sure he's fine."

I chewed my lip, "I don't know."

Sora paused, "What?"

I exhaled heavily, "Remember when we were fishing and he went numb?"

"He nearly scared me to death, yeah I remember."

"Well, when your mom was taking us home, he…he told me something."

"What was it?"

"What he's been seeing and hearing. It's…he says it's Xehanort."

Sora's reaction was exactly as I suspected it would be. His jaw went slack for a moment, but then he crossed his arms and sat back, "Xehanort? The guy who possessed Riku and tried to open Kingdom Hearts? Kairi, he's DEAD. We KILLED him."

I lifted my hands, "I'm not the one you have to convince of that. It's Riku."

"He's being stupid."

"What if he's not? What if something—something is happening to him and he—"

"You think he's losing his mind, right?" Sora said defensively.

"No, no, of course not." That was exactly what I thought and Sora somehow could sense that.

He sighed, "Kairi, Riku is a lot of things. If he was the kind of person who would lose his mind, he'd have lost it long before now. Besides, don't you think his parents would notice if their son turned into a raving lunatic?"

"I never called him a raving lunatic. But, why would he say that Xehanort was on the island? He knows he's dead, right?" I asked, still not persuaded.

We had reached the main island shore by now. We stepped out of the boat onto the sand and started the trek up to the village.

"Maybe you misunderstood what he said. Anyway, you shouldn't worry about it so much. I think we're all a little messed up after what happened." He sounded light about it, but I could tell he wanted me to drop the subject.

I hugged my jacket closer as we walked, "Fine, you win. So when do you get to take your driver's test?"

Sora groaned, "Four months! We may be in an Ice Age by then!"

I let him grumble about not being able to drive as we walked towards the center of town.

"All right, let's see here." I pulled out a short list from my pocket.

Sora paused in his rant about teen driving to glance at it, "You don't have your license yet and your mom's already sending you on grocery runs." He made a face.

I read down the list, "Yeah, well, at least she can trust me to get the right stuff!"

"Hey, I don't want to hear it. It was an honest mistake."

"How do you mistake lettuce for a cantaloupe?" I chided.

He looked around, "Well, lookie there. It's Riku's mom. Tara! Hey!" He waved.

I followed his gaze and saw her. Tara was a very petite woman with long brown hair and vivid blue eyes. She was talking to another group of women, but turned around when Sora called her name. She smiled and waved. We made our way over.

"Well, well, what trouble are you two up to today?" She asked, hefting up a bag of groceries.

Sora hooked his arm around my neck, "Just looking for a batch of paopu, right?" He kissed my cheek.

I nodded, "Yep."

Tara laughed, "Good luck with that." She shuddered, "It's freezing out here."

I snapped my fingers, "Oh, that reminds me. I still have Riku's jacket from Selphie's party. It was soaking wet and SOMEONE pushed me into a puddle of mud." I glared at Sora.

He lifted his hands defensively, "I swear it was Tidus."

"Anyway," I continued, "I washed it and it's just at my house. I'll bring it by sometime."

For a split second, a shadow darkened Tara's eyes and her fingers tightened just a fraction around the bag she was carrying. The next moment, however, she was smiling again and her eyes were bright once more.

"Sounds great."

"How's Riku doing?" Sora asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Tara lifted one shoulder, "He's just got a bad cold. You'd think he was on his deathbed the way he's milking it up." She chuckled, but not as heartily as before. "But anywho, I should be getting back before I get frostbite. I'll talk to you guys later. Good luck paopu hunting!"

With that, she was walking away. I exchanged a look with Sora. Something was screwy here, and we both knew it. Sora looked away.

"Let's get crackin' then. That list is pretty long."

"Sora, we can't just—something is wrong here."

"I know, I know it's messed up. I'll swing by his house tomorrow, okay?"

As we picked up groceries, my mind stayed on Tara. Why had she looked so scared?


	6. Eclipse

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Reviews are love…Tee hee, I even threw in a few scraps of RikuxKairi there. Bah…**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Six: Eclipse**

That weekend, Sora hadn't mentioned seeing Riku, so I took it upon myself. The day of Sora's big planned date, I left my house early to go by Riku's. I still had his jacket, so I took it with me to return as an excuse to coming by.

He just lived five minutes' walk from me, and when I reached his house, I saw that his dad's truck was gone, but that his mom was just getting in her car. I had a feeling that when we met her in town, she'd been reluctant to let us see Riku. That was strange; we were his best friends. We'd seen each other when we were much worse than sick. What was different now?

Before I realized I'd done it, I was crouching behind a bush, waiting for her to leave. Yeah, that wasn't strange or stalker-like at all. I heard the car's engine start and I peeked through. Tara backed the car out of the driveway and drove away. I blew my hair out of my eyes and straightened.

As casually as I could, I stepped out from behind the bush and up to the front door. Riku's car was the only one in driveway now. I held onto the jacket and knocked with my free hand.

"Hold on." Came a quick answer from Riku.

Funny, he didn't sound like he was dying or anything.

A second later, Riku pulled the door open, "Kairi? What're you doing here?"

Oh, Kairi, I told myself. He was standing in the doorway wearing only jeans and looking like he'd just gotten out of the shower. Being the teenaged girl I was, I couldn't help but take a second to appreciate the lack of shirt. Stop it, STOP IT. It's RIKU. I mentally slapped myself.

I jerked, "Oh, uh. I—er—came to return your jacket." I held it out.

He lifted an eyebrow, smirked, and took it, "Thanks. Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm great. Um—How…how're you?" I asked, sternly keeping my eyes on his face now.

He shrugged, "Fine. I—" He rolled his eyes, leaned back into the house, and yelled, "All right, I get it!"

I craned my neck, "Who was that?"

He blinked, "Oh, um, my—my mom."

It was my turn to lift an eyebrow, "She just left."

He started to fidget, but I lifted a hand, "Are you still hearing…him?"

Riku seemed to look around past me, rubbed the side of his head, and swallowed, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

I leaned in closer, "You told me you were hearing Xehanort."

Riku twitched, "Shh! You want everyone to hear you? You want everyone to panic?"

Upon closer inspection, I could see that his eyes were red and the circles under his eyes had gotten worse. "Riku, Xehanort is dead, remember?"

He waved a hand at me, "No, no he's not. Listen, I can't talk about this—" He was backing up into the house again, hinting for the conversation to be over.

I pushed anyway, "What's wrong?"

He rubbed his head again, "My parents think I'm losing it as it is, please tell me you haven't told anyone what I told you."

"I—I only told Sora. We don't think you're losing it, Riku, but—you do need help."

"Help? What, like a psychologist? I'm not crazy, Kairi, I just want him to go away."

"He's already gone."

Riku ran a hand over his face and glanced back into the house. When he looked at me again, his grin was back in place, "Well, then there's nothing to worry about, is there?"

He was trying to look okay. "Riku…"

"There's nothing to worry about, Kairi. I'll—just let me handle it on my own. Okay?"

His face was convincing, but his eyes could never lie to me. Nevertheless, it was obvious he wanted me to butt out. I wasn't going to butt out, but at that moment, I had to let him think I was.

"Okay. Well, I—I should go. Your mom said you were sick, so you probably shouldn't be out in this cold." I said, pulling my own jacket closer.

Riku didn't look bothered at all by the cold or the wind. In fact, if I had dared look closer, I would have seen that he was actually sweating.

"I'll see you later." He waved me off and quickly closed the door.

The fifteen minute hike up to the cliff gave me time to clear my head and put on a happy face for Sora, who was waiting for me at the ridge.

The rockslide that had nearly washed away the cliff a few years ago had formed several gouges in the cliff's side. Trees were still growing sideways down the cliff, giving it a swirling look.

"Hey, you're late, young lady!" Sora yelled, jumping to his feet with a wide smile on his face, "I said noon sharp and the sun is high overhead!"

"I'm sorry." I smiled back, trying to be cheerful, "I just got held up at—"

"Psh sh pst!" He shushed me, wigging his finger in front of his mouth, "We must remain silent! Tis to complete the illusion!" He offered his arm.

I took it, "Where—" I whispered.

He hushed me again, "Come, m'lady!"

I stifled a giggle as he led me around the edge of some boulders. "Close your eyes."

"What—"

"Psh sh pst! Close your eyes and brace yourself!"

Wondering what kind of hairbrained scheme he had planned now, I closed my eyes, allowing him to hold his hands over my face as he led me around the boulders and out closer to the edge of the cliff.

"Now, reach out with one hand." He whispered in my ear. I could hear the excitement in his voice, so I indulged him.

Reaching out carefully, I felt only cool, breezy air. I swept my hand around in a small circle, not finding anything, until my fingertips brushed the surface of something metal, solid, and cool.

"What is it?" I murmured, avoiding being hushed again.

"Guess. It starts with a C, and ends with an 'ar'." His voice was rising now.

With a flourish, he moved his hands from my face and I opened my eyes. A sparkling clean, bright red car sat under my fingers, looking vibrant and out of place among the rocks and the cliff.

I let out a squeal, "You got a car?!"

Sora bounced up beside me, practically about to wet himself, "Just last night! Ooh, I can't wait to see Riku's face when he sees me cruising around in this!"

I folded my arms, "You still have over three months before you can drive. You just have your permit; you have to have your parent with you to drive."

"Ah, but I have a solution!" He whipped out his wallet and displayed a picture of his mom. He slid the picture into the backseat under the seatbelt, "There! Now, not only is a parental unit present in the vehicle, but she's exercising the correct safety techniques as well!"

I tilted my head, "It's a picture…of your mom."

He grabbed my shoulders, "Yes, but it's the thought that counts. She's always with me, right here." He thumped his chest and swept up to the passenger seat, "Come closer, m'lady."

"Sora, I don't care if you keep your entire family album back there, you'll get pulled over if you drive alone with only your permit." I said.

He took my hand and guided me towards the passenger side, "I'm not driving it right now, silly. Now, come, come and enjoy the leather interior."

Giving him a sly look, I slid into the passenger side seat. He smirked, shut the door, and danced over to the driver's side, sliding into the seat behind the wheel.

"Okay, okay, okay, watch this." He flicked a switch on the dashboard.

A series of clicks sounded overhead and the roof detached from the windshield, folding backwards to let the sunlight pour into the cabin.

"Knocks Riku's sunroof out flat, doesn't it?" Sora reveled in his victory. "Oh, and the fun doesn't stop there."

He enthusiastically pressed another button. My and his seats began to recline, facing the open blue sky above as the roof finished folding backwards.

"Wow." I exclaimed, impressed, "How did you get such a great car? Reward or request?"

"What? You don't think my parents would get me a great car just because I'm a good kid?"

"Well, what did you bribe them with?"

"That hurts. All I did to deserve this was save all of humanity." He paused, "I have to pay for half of it and get a summer job." He admitted.

"I knew there was a catch." I boasted triumphantly, settling my shoulders against the seat.

It was starting to get dark outside. Why was that? It was hardly past noon. First it was freezing outside and now the sun's going on the fritz with the weather…

I looked up at the sky and gasped. Sora just chuckled.

The sun was being covered up by the moon. It looked like it was blinking, or winking down at us as the sunlight was shielded and for once, the moon won the battle over the sky, if only momentarily.

I looked sideways at Sora. He lifted his arms, "Tada."

"There's no way—you couldn't have planned—" I stammered.

"Psh sh pst! Silence, madam. Just sit back and enjoy the eclipse. Do not question my magic."

"This was no magic, this was plotting." I murmured under my breath.

"Then at least don't question my plotting, my dear." He slipped his arm around my shoulders.

We stayed that way for half an hour, while the moon blotted out the sun in the middle of the day. It was still freezing outside; the heat of the day and only 40 degrees. Eventually the moon continued its pass through the sky, surrendering once again to the violent brilliance of the sun.

"Sora, why are you and Riku always trying to best each other?" I broke the silence.

"We don't try to 'best' each other." Sora answered.

I sat up a little, "Every aspect of this car you compared to Riku's."

"We're guys. We compare cars. We compete."

"In everything? Over what? I mean, before, you were fighting over me, right?"

"In a twisted, man-way, yes."

"Then why now still? You've already won me." I smiled as I said it.

Sora narrowed one eye, "Have I?"

The doubt in his eyes startled me. Had I given him any reason to doubt? I answered myself: you were late to a date he'd been planning for a week to visit his best friend, no, both of yours best friend.

"Sora…"

"I just…it feels like you've been distracted lately. Like we're drifting apart." He looked awkward.

I blinked, "No, we're not drifting apart."

I'm just worried about Riku, I thought, but there was no way I was going to say it out loud. Instead, I just leaned in and kissed him as passionately as I could, hoping to convince him. Maybe to convince myself too. This notion surprised, and disturbed, me. He kissed me back, satisfied.

The eclipse ended and the moon passed, but that nagging shadow lingered in my mind.


	7. A Mess to Clean

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Bleh, this is a bit of a filler chapter, but it's still important to the rest of the story, so…Riku's not the only one having issues apparently. I'm just exploring the depths of Kairi's psyche. My apologies if that train derailed. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Seven: A Mess to Clean**

I didn't like the way Sora and my date ended. Neither of us let the other know it bothered us, but we both knew anyway. The truth was, we WERE drifting apart, and I couldn't understand it. After last summer, we had been inseparable. I was falling in love with him, I knew that, but was drifting supposed to happen?

We spent just as much time with each other after that as we had before. It was like nothing had changed, except that something HAD changed, and neither of us knew exactly what it was.

Riku hung out with us for a few days, but he didn't go to our smaller island, so we just stayed on the main island for those few days. He seemed fine, a far cry from what I'd seen when I returned his jacket. In fact, he was completely normal for those brief hours. He didn't drive with us and his mom was calling every half hour to 'check on him'.

Sora didn't make any comments about Riku not being able to drive, and I internally thanked him for that.

For that week, it felt like the last two months had never happened, like we were still three happy go lucky, summer-starved teenagers. The week after that reminded us that we weren't.

It was three weeks after the eclipse and the three of us were hanging out on the beach of the main island. It was the middle of July and the weather hadn't broken the 40 degree barrier since school ended.

Sora and Riku had tried to get their blood going by sparring, but the wind was so brutal that any warmth they gained from the movement was quickly stolen away. I had resigned myself to freezing and sat against a rock, shielded from the wind.

The boys eventually gave up and walked over to where I was.

"It's supposed to be summer, right?" Sora asked, stamping his feet to warm up.

" 'Let's get out and enjoy the weather!' " I grunted through my chattering teeth, imitating Sora's upbeat attitude, "I'm never listening to you ever again."

Sora just shrugged, "Who was I to know it would be sunny with a high of 35 in July?"

Riku shook his head, "I don't care if it's 35 below zero, it just feels good to be out of the house. I was about to go crazy…well, crazier." His laugh was hollow.

"Speaking of which, it's been a grand total of forty-five minutes since your mom last called. That's a record." Sora nodded in mock solemnity.

Riku rolled his eyes, "It's so stupid. By the way my parents are acting, you'd think I was about to attack people on the streets."

There it was. I narrowed my eyes. It was hard to spot it, but I'd caught it. Riku had become very good at pretending he wasn't hearing or seeing things, but every so often he slipped. I'd seen him turn his head a fraction and glance for just a split second to his right, before he'd quickly turned back to the conversation.

I bit my lip. So he wasn't better, as he was clearly wanting us to believe. I desperately wanted to pretend I wasn't noticing this, but I was. Sora didn't.

"Well, I'll start keeping my sword with me then." Sora remarked, nudging him playfully in the shoulder.

Riku folded his arms, "What, that wooden stick we used to fight with? You don't still have that?"

"…No, I meant…another…different…sword." Sora averted his eyes.

Riku laughed, "I better watch out, I might get a splinter or something…Kairi, you okay?"

I had been staring at him, not meaning to. I was trying to pick up where he thought Xehanort was by his glances and shifting eyes, but it appeared that I had been staring at him.

Sora looked between us, "Should I leave you two alone?" He sounded a little annoyed.

I quickly looked from Riku to Sora and back to Riku, "No, I mean, yeah, I'm fine. Sora got a car." I blurted, trying to divert attention from the fact that I had been staring.

Riku exchanged a look with Sora, "I know. He's mentioned that several times already."

He looked about to pursue the question of my staring when his phone rang. He groaned and pulled it out.

"Riku can't come to the phone right now," He said in a light voice, "He's busy pillaging and burning down houses."

Sora snorted and I looked at him. He smiled at me, but looked away without holding my gaze like he usually did. My shoulders drooped despite myself. Why did I feel like I was losing him?

"I thought it was funny." Riku said, rubbing his head. I could hear Tara's voice, but I couldn't understand what she was saying. Riku rolled his eyes and made a face, "Mom, it's not like I'm…I know but…If you'll just…guh, fine." He hung up and looked at us, "Apparently I will die a grisly death if I don't get home soon."

Sora stretched, "Man, what does she think is going to happen?"

Riku shrugged, "I don't know, but I—I don't think—think she—"

His voice slurred and he started to lean sideways.

"Hey—" Sora started, lifting a hand to steady him.

"Sora!" I yelped in warning, scrambling to my feet.

Riku's knees buckled and his eyes closed. Sora caught him before he completely collapsed. He lowered him to the ground and I hurried over.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I think he passed out." Sora grunted sarcastically, checking his pulse.

"I'll get help."

"No, wait, he's waking up."

I stopped rising. Riku's eyelids were fluttering and he was shifting on the ground. I knelt down again, shaking. Beads of sweat had broken out across his face, despite the cold wind.

He moaned once and opened his eyes. His gaze was out of focus. He blinked a few times and narrowed his eyes, looking up at us.

"Riku…" I started, touching his arm.

The realization of what happened seemed to dawn on him, because he tried to sit up.

Sora gripped his shoulder, "Easy, buddy. Just stay down for a second. You scared us."

Riku's face was flushing, either from the fever or embarrassment, it was hard to tell.

"I'm okay…"

I shook my head, "You can't pull that anymore. You're not okay, Riku. Let us help you."

His eyes hardened and he pushed himself up on his elbows, "I don't need any help."

Sora and I kept steadying hands on his arms as he sat up, the blood rushing back to his body from his head, letting the dizzy spell subside. Sora exchanged a look with me and I stood up.

"I'll go get help." I started.

Riku grabbed my arm, "No."

"Riku, you just collapsed, man." Sora pressed.

Riku pushed himself up on his knees, "Look, I'm sorry I scared you, but I don't need to scare anyone else."

I looked at Sora, then back to Riku, "But your mom—"

Riku looked sharply at me, "Do NOT tell her about this. Please."

The please made me hesitate. He was…he was pleading with us not to let anyone know that something was wrong with him. To hide this.

"Okay." Sora answered, nodding slightly. I looked at him incredulously. "But," he added, "YOU should look after yourself. And, on that note, we should head home."

I couldn't believe it. Boys were so…STUPID! As concerned as I was, I made my feelings known by standing off to the side as Sora helped Riku to his feet. I walked several feet ahead of them on the trek back to the village, so angry I couldn't form words to yell at them.

I said a terse goodbye to them both and stalked rigidly back to my house. I slammed the door a little harder than was necessary, making my mother look up from the laundry she was folding.

"Easy on the doors, Kairi." Her smile faded when she saw my face, "What's wrong, honey?"

"Boys." I muttered, stomping towards the stairs.

"What—"

"I don't want to talk about it."

I reached my room and closed my door. My room was clean and organized, as I'd left it; everything was where it should be and it was all orderly and neat.

In a fit of frustration, I dropped my purse and pulled the top drawer out of my dresser. It was full of evenly folded clothes. I turned it over and let the clothes topple where they might, setting the drawer aside when it was empty.

The sudden anger had no origination. I really didn't know why I was so mad, why I yearned so desperately for a mess I knew I would have to clean up later. Why did I have to make a mess that I knew I had to clean? Because I knew I COULD clean it, unlike this mess my life was in now.

I opened my closet doors, pulled out my hanging clothes, and tossed them out on the floor and onto my bed. I tossed my shoes in the corners and emptied my make up bag on top of my desk, which was strewn with loose paper and unfinished summer homework.

My dresser was emptied across the floor and the contents of my closet were tossed about where it draped over the furniture. My CDs were fanned out at angles over my rumpled bedspread.

I flicked the knob on my stereo so that the music blared out of the speakers, the normally gentle music screeching and warbling in protest.

Finally, I collapsed on my bed, staring at my work. It looked like an explosion of clothes and accessories had occurred in my room, covering everything in blouses, skirts, and other garments. I panted, out of breath with the fervor of terrorizing my articulate and clean room.

I hated it. Why? Why was everything falling apart? Why couldn't I help one of my best friends? Why didn't he want to be helped? Why was I drifting away from my boyfriend, who I had fallen in love with? Why was I so angry with the both of them?...Why had I just destroyed my room?

There were two apprehensive knocks on the door. "Sweetie?" It was my dad.

"Yeah?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Are you all right?"

"Great…I'm…I'm just fine." I lied through my teeth.

I heard his footsteps recede down the hallway and turned to the window. Dusk was settling across the island, giving the sky a pinkish, orange hue.

Sighing, I stood up and walked over to nearest clump of tangled, wrinkled clothes. Picking up a pair of jeans, I carefully folded them and hung them on a hanger, hooking it back in place in my closet.

Slowly, I started picking up the clothes I'd so determinedly thrown around. Feeling stupid now but strangely relieved, I hung my clothes back on the hangars, replacing them in my closet. I folded them and reset my dresser drawers. I lined my CDs back up and repacked my make up bag. It was actually therapeutic, fixing something that needed fixing, and being able to do it successfully. At least this mess I knew how to clean.

At least I knew how to fix this wreck.


	8. Wake of a Storm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. From here on, the story gets darker. It had to happen. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Eight: Wake of a Storm**

I felt like the summer was going to waste. I hadn't talked to Sora or Riku for a week. They had gotten the message that I was angry with them, and I was letting them sweat about it. Why shouldn't I? They were so…stupid….stupid boys…

Still, I missed talking to them. The week went by slowly and boringly. I hung out with Selphie, but she just liked gazing out at the ocean and talking about boys.

I didn't answer Sora's calls and Riku didn't call anyway. Apparently his parents had him on lockdown again. I was worried about him, but I was more preoccupied with being angry. I wasn't supposed to be angry, for some reason. I, Kairi, was supposed to be the giggly, fun-loving, happy one who always forgave and was always smiling. Well, I was sick of that.

It was ten o'clock on the Saturday night concluding my week long silent treatment of the boys. I had gone to be early, exhausted from listening to Selphie giggle and squeal about her latest crush: Mike from second period business class.

I was lying on my side, staring at the second hand on my clock as it ticked slowly in a circle. My cell phone had eight missed calls from Sora in the last half hour, but I'd turned it off two minutes ago. Now the house phone was ringing.

If that was Sora, so help me…I thought, sitting up and moving to the door. I pushed it open a crack and peered out into the hall. My dad appeared, lifting the receiver out of the cradle.

"Hello?...No, she's already asleep…Whoa, Sora, slow down…What?...How long has…all right have…hey, calm down…We'll be there in ten minutes." He hung up and headed back towards the living room.

"Dad?" I asked, stepping out into the hall, "What's going on?"

Dad looked at me, not even surprised I was still awake, "Get dressed, we've gotta go."

"Go where?" I asked after him.

"Zura, Sora just called."

"Paul, what—"

I could hear them talking in low tones. Now my alarm flags were raised. What had Sora said? I hurried back into my room and threw on some clothes without looking at what I was putting on. Then I charged down the hall, nearly toppling down the stairs as I took them three at a time.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Mom and Dad were pulling on their coats and checking the batteries in several flashlights.

"We're going over to Tara and Don's house." Dad said as Mom handed me my heavy coat.

"Why? What happened?" I asked, my voice rising in pitch.

"It's Riku." Mom answered.

"What? What's wrong with him? Is he okay?" I demanded as we headed out the door.

"He's missing. No one knows where he is. His parents are terrified. We're going to help look for him. Come on." Dad said, herding us out of the house.

The cold night wind was like a slap in the face. It was freezing out here! It couldn't have been more than thirty degrees. I hugged my coat closer as we all clambered into the car. Dad drove through the empty streets to Riku's house.

"When did he disappear?" Mom asked.

Dad shook his head, "Sora was too rattled to tell me the time of day. It sounded like he's been missing for an hour already."

"Out in this?" Mom beckoned out the window, where the wind was whipping at the trees and frost was already forming on the grass.

There was a small group of neighbors crowded on the front lawn of Riku's house. Chris, Sora's dad, was handing out flashlights and bellowing at everyone over the wind. My parents and I parked on the street and jogged over to where Tidus's mom was comforting Tara. I moved on to where Wakka and Sora were talking, bundled up in thick coats against the wind.

"Kairi." Sora looked pale and his eyes were wide. "Have you heard anything?"

I shook my head, "No news. I just found out."

"I tried your cell, but—"

"I turned it off." I said, ashamed. If I hadn't been so determined to be angry, I would have known about the situation sooner. "I'm sorry."

"It doesn't matter. We have to find Riku now." Sora said impatiently, glancing around.

Wakka nodded, "Let's just hope we find him soon, ya? This weather isn't kind."

Soon the crowd had split into groups of three and sent off to search for Riku. I partnered up with Sora and his mom, Daylia, and we headed towards the North side beach. The wind was merciless and the cold attacked every inch of bare skin on our faces and necks.

We scanned the shore with our flashlights and hunted through the trees and around the rocks. The result was moot. There weren't footprints or any signs of Riku being here.

"Riku!" Sora yelled, his voice muted by the buffeting winds.

I cupped my hands around my mouth, "Riku, where are you?!"

Daylia was calling out nearby as well, but for all the good it did, no one answered.

"Hey, Mom, Kairi, you don't think—" Sora looked out towards the other island.

Daylia pulled her hair out of her face, "I don't think anyone could make it over there in this."

I instinctively looked over at the pier. A boat was missing. My heart lodged itself in my throat. "Guys, one of the boats are gone!"

Sora and his mom jogged over to me to see for themselves.

"The wind could have knocked it loose, but if it was Riku…" Daylia looked around, "Wait here, I'm going to get some of the others."

"That'll take too long!" Sora snapped, "We should go right now and—"

"Absolutely not. You'll drown in this." Daylia said sternly, "Now wait here." She headed back up the path.

Sora groaned aloud and ran his hands through his hair. As soon as his mom had disappeared around the corner, he stepped forward.

"What are you doing?" I asked, teeth chattering.

"I can't just wait here."

"We don't know if Riku took the boat."

"All I don't know is if my best friend is out in this storm. You think he's in a mind to know it's storming?" He barked, glaring at me.

Truth hit home, "You think—you think he's lost it?"

Sora climbed into the boat and set the oars in place, "What else would possess him to go out in this?"

"Sora, please—"

"NO, Kairi! I can't stand around and wait. We're wasting time!"

I bit my lip and then climbed in after him, "Then I'm coming with you."

Sora pushed off the shore and started rowing into the tempest. All I could do was hold onto the edges. It usually only took ten minutes to row out to our island. Tonight, it seemed to take an hour. I lost track of time, the wind was too wild to talk, and all my energy was on staying in the boat. Waves were washed up over us, drenching us both in the icy water. This only gave the wind more power to freeze us.

Sora's pace with the oars never slackened, but stayed in that hurried frenzy until the boat rocked against the sandy shallows of our island. I more than gratefully disembarked onto solid ground. Soaked to bone and freezing, Sora and I trudged up onto the shoreline, gazing around in the pitch darkness.

"Riku! Where are you?" Sora yelled.

I grabbed his arm and pointed. The missing boat was knocking against the entrance to the cove. Without exchanging a word, we both sprinted over the beach, under the bridge, and through the entrance to the cove.

The makeshift crossing bridge was rattling in the wind, but we jumped and hurried across it without thinking about the safety of it. We flashed our lights around in arcs, seeing nothing but thrashing bushes and swirls of disturbed sand.

We called out for him, screaming his name over and over to the winds, but no one answered. I followed Sora over to the ledge and jumped down. My shins screamed in protest but I straightened, looking around.

The shoreline continued, leading into several coconut trees in the grove. A strange sense of deja vue settled over me and a spike of confusion struck my chest. The raft? No, part of our raft was sitting where it had been the night the Heartless had come last summer. Upon closer inspection, I saw that it wasn't OUR raft, but another one, incomplete and not very well crafted. Beside it was—

"Riku!" I shrieked as my light's beam caught him.

Riku was kneeling beside what was supposed to be a mast. He was tying boards together in tight knots and rolling them together. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but the cold and the wind seemed to not be bothering him at all.

Sora reached him before I did. "Riku? What are you doing?" He grabbed his shoulder.

Riku didn't look up, didn't even acknowledge the grip on his shoulder. His hair was plastered to his head and he was soaked, but the wind was dying down, if only minimally. Sora grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him around.

He had been building a raft? My insides churned. Why had he been doing that?

Riku's lips were moving, but the dying wind stole his words.

Sora looked at me, "He's delirious. He thinks it's last summer." He looked down at Riku, "Snap out of it. That was last year."

A sudden bright light nearly blinded us. I shielded my eyes and looked out to sea. I saw the bow of Chris's small yacht with a search light mounted on it.

"Hey, they found him!" Tidus was yelling as he climbed over the edge and jogged over to us.

"Guys?" Riku asked suddenly. We both looked at him. He looked confused, "H-How did I get here?" Sora looked at me sharply, but I kept staring at Riku.

Riku's father, Don, was sprinting away from the boat with Wakka's dad. They didn't ask anything but hastily wrapped a still confused Riku in heavy blankets.

"Are you guys all right?" Tidus asked, handing Sora and me dry blankets as well.

Sora rubbed my shoulders as we followed Tidus up into Chris's boat.

"Is he all right?" Sora asked, shaking from the cold.

Adrenaline alone had kept the cold at bay this long. Now it crashed over us both like a wave.

Wakka's father beckoned, "You all get in here outta the cold."

We obeyed. The wind had all but stopped now, but the cold seemed to have increased. Little pinpricks of cold poked at my face and I swatted at it.

"Kairi…" Sora started, staring out the window. I followed his gaze and my jaw dropped.

Snow was falling outside, lighting on the half-constructed raft and the rails of the yacht.


	9. Snow and Tears

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Nine: Snow and Tears**

Over the next three days the storm grew into a blizzard, dropping a foot or so of snow over the rooftops, treetops, cars, and lawns. It was impossible to be outside for very long, the wind threw snow and cold in your face, to attack your skin and burn your eyes. It stormed for three more days, and once it was all over, there was a foot and a half of freshly fallen snow, powdery and white, layering all of Destiny Islands.

The strange weather gave my house a gloomy feeling. Maybe it was the cold, maybe it was the fact that the blizzard had knocked down telephone lines and shorted out our circuit breaker three times, maybe it was just the idea of being alone with only my parents for a week, but I was not in the best of moods when the wind stopped howling.

The day after it stopped snowing and storming, I was awakened by a loud thumping noise on my window. I sat up, ready to snatch up a weapon before I was completely aware of myself. Grumpily, I dragged myself up and pulled my curtains aside.

Selphie, puffed up because of all her coats, was throwing snowballs at my window with Tidus. They laughed when they saw my face. Wakka popped out from behind my dad's truck and launched a blitzball sized snowball at them.

"Take this!" He bellowed.

The thing nailed Tidus in the small of the back, dropping him flat on his face while Selphie nearly doubled over laughing. I made a face and closed the curtains, sinking back down onto my bed.

Why were they so happy? It was cold and wet outside. Last week Riku had wandered off and could have gotten hypothermia out in the cold, rambling on like it was last summer. Sora and I were awkward and not really talking. What right did they have to be happy right now?

Eventually the thumping on my window ceased and I pulled myself completely out of bed. By habit I checked my cell phone: no service, no calls, no messages. Sighing, I changed into two pairs of jeans, three pairs of socks, a T-shirt, long sleeved shirt, and sweater before pulling on thick snow boots and a wool cap and my pink winter coat. I felt extremely silly, waddling down the hall laden with so many layers, but I was grateful for them once I was outside.

The snow on my front lawn was broken and trails were crisscrossing everywhere from the ensuing war between Tidus and Wakka. There were icicles dangling from the roof and frost had frozen the leaves on the trees as they swayed. And it was late July. I shook my head.

I tromped through the snow down the sidewalk and headed towards town. The last time I'd had contact with the outside world, Riku was still in the hospital. They were running tests and asking him questions. He hated that, I was sure.

People were emerging from their homes too, kicking snow away from their doors or cutting a path to their cars, which were deadlocked by snow. Lumps of launched snow balls had made craters in many lawns, more battle damage I assumed.

The hospital on Destiny Islands was more like a large house, adjoined to our main doctor's house, Tomas Gale. The building had not been spared the onslaught of snow and ice, but enough of it had been shoveled that I made it up the front steps and through the front door and only slipped twice.

Tomas's wife, Kora, was sitting behind the greeting desk filling out paperwork. She looked up when I walked in, shaking snow off my boots.

"Good morning, Kairi. I was wondering when you'd brave the weather to come." She smiled.

I grimaced through a smile, "Is Riku still here?"

Kora's smile faltered, "Yes."

I narrowed my eyes, "Is that a bad yes?"

"Well…"

"Can I see him?"

"Of course, dear. I think Sora might be here."

Was that supposed to be a warning? I didn't glance back at her to make sure. I walked down the hallway and heard Sora talking. I slowed.

"Psychologist? Please, you don't need a psychologist telling you you're nuts. I think the last three months have been proof enough."

"I'm not crazy, Sora, you sap." That was Riku.

I paused, chewed my lip, and then knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Do you two need some time alone?"

Sora and Riku both looked at me. Riku smiled, "Hey, Kairi."

He looked okay, considering. I didn't like seeing him in a hospital bed, but I already knew he'd had hypothermia, so hopefully that was all.

"Did somebody mention a psychologist?" I asked.

Riku rolled his eyes, "Apparently scampering off to the other island in the middle of the night qualifies as odd behavior. Can you believe that?"

"Hm, running off and building a raft in the middle of the night? Nope, sounds perfectly normal to me." I grinned.

Sora was fiddling with his gloves. We caught each other's eyes, but immediately looked away.

"Are you two still awkward?" Riku blurted. Neither of us answered. He exhaled heavily, "Guys, I'm depressed enough being stuck in this hospital without adding you two being on the fritz."

"We're not on the fritz." Sora muttered unconvincingly.

I rolled my ankle around, trying to appear interested in the clipboard hanging off the table.

"Then kiss and make up." Riku said simply.

"What? Why?" Sora jumped.

"It's entertaining. This place has a lack of entertainment. Entertain me, I'm hypothermic."

I squinted, actually reading the clipboard, "Who's Dr. Young?"

"Hm? Oh, some psychologist. Just another doctor who thinks I'm crazy."

"Tomas thinks you're crazy?" I asked.

"He might as well." A smile spread across Riku's, but it wasn't a happy one, "I'm not crazy."

"I know that." I answered immediately.

Riku chuckled, quietly at first. After a few seconds, he started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Sora asked, folding his arms.

Riku's shoulders were shaking as he tried to stop, "I don't know—Nothing's—funny!" He kept laughing until his eyes started watering.

"Then stop laughing." Sora grimaced.

"I'm—trying!" He cackled, holding his sides.

"What, are you on crack or something?" Sora asked, frowning.

After a few minutes, Riku calmed down, still giggling, but more controlled now.

"Feel better?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Riku wiped his eyes, "Sorry. I don't know what that was."

"Looked like a giggling fit to me. It was creepy. Don't do it again." Sora stated, smirking.

I frowned. I had been reading the clipboard under Dr. Young's name and my eyes had settled on a word I really didn't like.

"Hey. It says Dr. Young's a specialist in Schizophrenia. Do they think you're—"

"No." Riku said quickly.

I tilted my head, but didn't press the matter.

As if on cue, there were three light knocks on the door and a woman opened the door. She screamed specialist: short, messy brown hair tied up in a knot, horn rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of a small nose, and watery green eyes. Her skin was pale and stark against her white lab coat.

"Oh, hello." She greeted, walking into the room as if she'd been welcomed. "I'm Dr. Sue Young." She offered her hand.

Sora looked a little trepid, which was unusual for him, so I took and shook her hand. "I'm Kairi. That's Sora. We're friends of Riku's."

Dr. Young's eyes, so bright and lively, softened at what I said, as if in sympathy or pity. I immediately became defensive. Why was she pitying us? Was it Schizoph—

"Well, it's very nice to meet you both, but I'm afraid I'll need to see Riku alone." She tutted.

Sora and my faces must have showed concern, because she offered a gentle, sympathetic smile, "Don't worry, it's just a few tests, nothing overexerting."

"Do you think he has Schizophrenia or something?" Sora blurted.

Dr. Young tucked a few strands of flyaway hair behind her ear, "The tests will only take an hour or so. You can come back then."

I looked at Riku, who looked like he'd rather be with anyone else but Dr. Young. "We'll—We'll see you later, okay?" I offered.

Sora saluted, "Yeah, so don't go 'madman' until then, got it?"

Riku smiled, but it was more of a grimace, "Right. See you later."

We left the room, but didn't wander far, standing out in the hallway. Sora ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Man, the longer this goes on, the more messed up it gets. Schizophrenia now?" He grumbled.

I nibbled on my fingernail, sighing, "I wonder what kind of tests she's running."

"I don't know. I didn't like her." Sora snapped.

"She's only trying to help."

"By what? By telling us Riku needs to be in a foam room in a ward? Sorry if that doesn't trigger my friendliest feelings towards her."

"If she can explain what's wrong with him—"

"Nothing's wrong with him."

Great, denial, I thought, but said, "He was building a raft in the middle of the night."

"They're acting like he's about to snap or something." His voice was rising a little.

"Shh! Sora, this is hard on me too, but we have to be strong for Riku."

Sora smacked his fist against the opposite wall, "We shouldn't have to be. Riku's always been the strong one. He's the one who never got hurt and always laughed off the bruises. This—this isn't something you can put a bandage on, Kairi! Now they're 'running tests' and all that'll do is—"

I snapped my hand back, slapping him clear across the face. Sora's voice cut off with the smack and he jerked his head to the side. The back of my hand stung, but I just flexed it and stared him down. Tears welled in my eyes. This was enough!

Sora turned back to me, his cheek turning red. His eyes had suddenly gone moist too, but it wasn't from getting slapped. It was something deeper. We just stared at each other, mutually wrapped in this smothering blanket of insecurity, doubt, and fear.

Then, as if a spell had been broken, we rushed together, throwing our arms around each other. Tears spilled down both our cheeks and through the kissing and the crying and desperate apologies, I felt like something had changed again, only this time, the drifting had stopped.

"I'm sorry." Sora muttered, holding me close, "I'm so sorry. I love you."

It was the first time he'd said so aloud, and I started crying again, "I love you too."


	10. Riku Snaps

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. This chapter is just what the title says. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Ten: Riku Snaps**

Tomas let Riku go home a few days after Dr. Young ran her tests, although he suggested staying close to home. From what Riku told us, Dr. Young's tests had merely been staring at ink blots, taking a few x-rays of his head, and other general check up-like routines. All of his cheerfulness seemed to have been drained out after the ordeal, and he was obviously glad to be home.

Sora and I visited everyday, often together, staying for hours at a time, talking about anything that would make him smile. That was the promise we'd made: do anything to make Riku happy and keep his mind off Dr. Young and her Schizophrenia mumbo jumbo.

"So…she slapped you, and you started making out with her?" Riku lifted an eyebrow.

Sora shrugged, grinning, and shot me a playful look, "Something like that." He winked.

The three of us were parked in Riku's living room. It was snowing steadily outside and Tara had made three mugs of hot chocolate for us, drinking coffee herself in the kitchen while she wrote up an agenda for the August Destiny Islands Council meeting. It felt like the middle of January, not the end of July. I sipped at the chocolate and sighed as the warmth spread down to my toes, filling me up inside.

"Remind me again," I asked, glancing at the window, "what month it is?"

"Almost August! Two weeks 'til my birthday!" Sora punched at the air triumphantly.

Riku lifted a hand, "No, don't get too excited. Didn't you know, when it snows in July, birthdays in August don't count. You won't be sixteen until next year. No wheels for you. Sorry."

Sora's eye twitched, "Don't screw with me, man. I've been waiting all year for this!"

I laughed, "You two crack me up."

There were three light knocks on the door. Riku rocked himself off the couch and set the hot chocolate on the coffee table, "I'll be right back."

When he had completely vacated the living room, Sora leaned towards me, suddenly concerned, "He was just kidding right?"

I laughed again, knocking his shoulder, "Of course, silly. You'll have your license in two weeks. That is, if you can pass the driver's test."

"Hey, I put up with enough criticism with Riku. That driver's test won't know what hit it. I'm gonna drive all over it and then back over it and drive over it again! You'll see; I've got mad driving skills!" He said, bouncing up and down in his seat in agitation.

I patted his hand, "Whatever makes you feel better."

Tara stood up in the kitchen, a frown gracing her features as she walked towards the front door. Then I heard it too, voices. One calm voice and one disgruntled voice; Dr. Young's voice was calm and Riku's was disgruntled.

"What are you saying?" Riku was asking.

Dr. Young's voice drifted in, "Are your parents home? I think it'll be better if—"

"Who—Dr. Young? Can we help you?" Tara asked, joining in.

"Oh, Tara, hello. Is your husband home?"

"No, why?"

"I—I think it would be better if you were both home before I—"

"What? Before what? Spill it!" Riku snapped.

"Riku!" Tara snapped, "Please, come in, Dr. Young."

"Call me Sue."

Sora and I exchanged looks as Tara led Dr. Young into the den through the kitchen, Riku trailing after them, looking upset. Sora stood up, but Tara glanced back.

"Give us a couple of minutes, guys." She said.

I almost suggested leaving, but the look on Riku's face killed that idea. He needed us here, regardless of the outcome of Dr. Young's tests.

Tara closed door behind the group, blocking us off from overhearing the conversation. Sora, on his feet, started shifting back and forth.

"I don't like this." He muttered, more to himself than to me.

Headlights shining into the window made me look up. Riku's dad's pick up had pulled into the driveway. The light also showed me that Dr. Young had come in an ambulance, which was idling on the curb. Why? Were they taking Riku somewhere? If so, why did they need an ambulance?

Don walked through the front door, stern faced and narrow eyed. Don was a tall, barrel-chested man with a shaved bald head and beady brown eyes. Riku didn't necessarily resemble his father physically, but there was a similarity in their gaits, and a shared audacity and boldness in their gaze and the lines of their jaws.

"What happened?" He asked us curtly in greeting.

"That Dr. Young woman showed up. She's talking to Tara and Riku in the den." I answered, because Sora was just pointing and making inaudible sputtering noises.

Without preamble, Don marched through the kitchen and into the den, tossing the door closed behind him.

Sora groaned and slumped down onto the couch beside me, "I really don't like this."

No sooner had he hit the couch than the den's door flying open made us both spring to our feet.

Riku stormed out, red faced and stormy eyed.

"Riku—" I started, lifting a hand.

Don and Tara fanned out after their son. Dr. Young trailed behind, looking solemn.

"Riku, calm down." Tara asked, tears threatening to break free from her eyes.

"I can't—she's not—there isn't—Shehca—Imnot—" Riku's speech was slurring together like a word salad. "Dontlet—"

"What? Riku, what, man?" Sora asked, color draining steadily from his face. That was strange, because I was sure all the blood in my body was rushing to my head.

Riku threw an arm in Dr. Young's direction, "She—sheslying—shesaidiwas—" He was raving.

Dr. Young was talking to Don, "We really should take him to the hospital."

"Yehmean the asylum!" Riku glared at her, panting and out of breath, "I'm not crazy. Doyouhear me? M'not crazy!"

"No one said you were crazy, dear." Dr. Young said, approaching him slowly, with her arms held out. "I just need you to come with me so we can—"

"No!" Riku backed up sharply from her reach, knocking over an end table and leaning against the sofa.

"Riku, it's okay." I said reassuringly, though choking back tears myself.

"What did she say?" Sora asked, facing Don.

Don's mouth was a straight line, his lips pursed white, "Schizophrenia."

That one word drained all the remaining color from Sora's face and turned my knees to jelly. I sank onto the couch, my mouth hanging open dumbly.

"He—She said—what?" Sora stammered.

Riku was running one hand repeatedly through his hair. His other hand was clamped around the back of the sofa, shaking uncontrollably.

My heart ached seeing him so upset and confused. I leaned over the couch towards him, but he slapped my arm away. I withdrew, emotionally hurt and a little stunned.

Don was immediately behind his son and gripped his upper arm. "That's enough, Riku. Calm down."

"Yeah, we're your friends, man." Sora asked, moving in front of me, like a shield.

A shield from what? Riku? He wasn't crazy. He wouldn't attack us or hurt us. My wrist ached and I could see the skin turning red where he'd struck me. He hadn't meant to. He was just upset.

Riku struggled against Don's grip, "Lemme go. Don't let her—I won't go—I'm not crazy!"

Sora walked over to Riku and lifted his hands, "Riku, we know you aren't crazy. Dr. Young just wants to help. You're not going to the asylum. None of us will let that happen."

Riku wasn't listening. He jerked free from his father and his hands snatched Sora's collar, almost lifting him off floor. "I won't let you take me again! Not this time!"

"Riku!" Tara yelped, beside herself.

Don grabbed Riku's arms and pulled him back. Sora regained his balance and stepped towards his friend. Riku wouldn't have it. He twisted free from Don and lurched at Sora, tackling him to the floor.

I screamed and rounded the couch, but Tara grabbed me to hold me back. Dr. Young was unzipping a medical bag in haste.

Riku and Sora rolled across the floor, Riku barking threats and incoherent noises. After a few seconds, they rolled to a stop, Riku pinning Sora to the floor.

"Why are you here?!" He barked, sweat beading on his face now.

Sora coughed, trying to pry Riku's hands from his throat, "What are you talking about?"

"They killed you! You can't be here!" Riku snapped, punching Sora across the face.

Even Don had frozen. I gasped, "He thinks Sora is Xehanort!"

Sora gagged, "Riku, it's me! It's Sora!"

Riku punched him again, "Don't mess with my head!"

This time, the impact from the blow caused Sora's head to collide with the floor. His body sagged against the floor and his neck went slack. Unconscious.

"Sora!" I cried out loud enough for Riku to look up. For a moment, I wondered what he saw me as in his frenzy, because the look in his eyes was one with which he'd never looked at me before, like I was some demon from his nightmares.

His pause gave Don an opportunity to drag Riku off of Sora, who didn't move. I scrambled free from Tara and dropped beside him. Dr. Young moved towards Don and the thrashing Riku. I didn't see the needle until Dr. Young had pushed it into Riku's neck, depressing the capsule on the syringe. Riku's struggling immediately slowed and then stopped altogether, until he was limp in Don's arms.

Dr. Young set the needle aside, "We need to get him secured." Her tone was all business now.

She called in a few paramedics, who quickly moved Riku onto a stretcher and wheeled him out. Tara followed after them. Don made to follow, but glanced back.

"Hey, this boy in here's hurt." Don thundered as Dr. Young made to leave.

Dr. Young was fastening her coat, "One of the paramedics will stay here—" Don made an angry noise and she faced him, "Sir, right now the most pressing matter is stabilizing your son. Sora has a concussion at worst. Now, one of the paramedics will see to him." She snapped, brushing past him out of the house and into the snowy air beyond.

Don cast an unbelieving look at me. I just knelt beside Sora, who was stirring already. I could see the worry in his eyes for Riku, but he was also concerned for Sora.

"I-I'll stay here. It-It'll be okay. Go with Riku." I stammered.

He opened and closed his mouth, "I'll call both of yours parents." He said apologetically.

He passed a paramedic on his way out as the paramedic crossed over to us.

Outside, the snow kept falling, undisturbed by the drama taking place around it.

**..:--X--:..**

**A/N**: (fidgets) From here on out, the intensity doubles.

Time to give a big shout out to all those who've reviewed this story! (whips out scroll) This includes, in no particular order: Shiba-X, ChibiFrubaGirl, Smiley Smackdown, Catemonster, Kairi1624, Exylim, Sora788, Kiss of the Breeze, DragonMaster Reborn, chibi heishi, Kanpa, and DarkEriksRedRose.

You guys are great. If I was rich, I'd buy you all entire pie shops! But, as I am not, I can only thank you. (bows) Thank you!


	11. Post Altercation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine. This chapter is a little slow, but after this, I promise it gets faster! Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Eleven: Post Altercation**

"Thank you…Yes…Don't—Don't worry about it…He's fine just…Of course…Bye." Sora's dad Chris hung up his cell phone and turned back to us, "Riku's stable. They—They've got him sedated. That was Don."

I had managed to steady the trembling in my hands after my and Sora's parents showed up. I watched the paramedic, Andy, as he threaded the stitching needle. The blow to Sora's head had cut a deep laceration from his hairline down his temple. Andy had cleaned up the blood and was beginning to stitch the wound closed.

My dad and Sora's mom Daylia had maneuvered Sora into a sitting position on the floor, leaning against the couch. Chris had been pacing for the last half hour making phone calls and my mom had soon gone to comfort Tara.

I sat next to Sora, stroking the back of his hand while Andy inspected the laceration. He'd regained consciousness not long after Don had left, though he was only semiconscious and not making any sense. He seemed to be getting better now.

"He thought I was Xehanort huh?" He asked, keeping his eyes determinedly on my face, away from Andy's hands, holding the needle.

I nodded, wiping my eyes for the thousandth time. I wasn't crying, my eyes were just incessantly watering, "Uh huh. He was…he was delirious. Don pulled him off you and then Dr. Young tranquilized him and they took him in an ambulance."

"Where'd they take him?" Sora asked, sitting up a little.

"Stay still, kiddo." Andy said, and Sora reclined his head again reluctantly.

I looked to Daylia, who had kept Sora's knee in a vice grip since she'd seen him. She answered, "The Indigo Center on the larger eastern island."

"An asylum?" Sora started to sit up, but winced as Andy accidentally jabbed him with the needle.

Andy sighed, "That's gonna happen every time you move."

"Sit still, baby." Daylia said, patting his knee, "It's not an asylum. It's a…an institution where Dr. Young works which…specializes in helping people with certain…psychological problems."

"So it's an asylum? He's not crazy, Mom."

"He thought you were Xehanort and attacked you, son." Chris said, pausing in his pacing.

My dad gripped my shoulder, "Debating Riku's sanity is Dr. Young's territory, her field of expertise. For right now, let's just be thankful none of you were seriously hurt."

I looked at him incredulously, "Thankful? People think Riku is insane and Sora's head's been busted open."

Sora blinked and started to lift a hand to his temple to inspect the damage for himself. Andy swatted his hand away and finished tying off the end of the stitch.

"There, almost good as new." Andy said.

"So he'll be all right?" Daylia asked.

Andy nodded, rubbing his neck, "You're gonna have one heck of a headache and a nice black bruise for a few weeks, but you should be fine."

Sora sat up straight, touching his head gingerly. Satisfied that his head was not 'busted open', he turned to his dad, "We need to go there."

My dad blinked, "What?"

"We need to go to the Indigo Center and see Riku." Sora demanded.

Daylia looked at Chris, "Sora, you have a concussion. You need to take it easy."

"Take it easy? How am I supposed to take it easy?" Sora balled his fists.

I raised myself up on my knees beside him, "I agree with Sora. We should go wait with Tara."

My dad looked close to arguing, but Chris was reaching for his keys, "All right. I'll take you in the van. Paul, can you take Daylia home?"

My dad nodded, bewildered as I stood up.

"I hate to impose, but Dr. Young rushed off in my ambulance. I could use a lift to Indigo." Andy said, clicking his medical kit shut.

"I don't like her." Sora hissed.

Andy arched his eyebrows, "Dr. Young isn't a bad woman. She's a wonderful doctor and a kind person." Sora looked dubious, but Andy shrugged, "She just comes off as harsh sometimes. Then again, she did leave me stranded." He looked at Chris, "Could I bum a ride?"

"Sure, sure, of course." Chris nodded.

Andy and I helped Sora to his feet. He swayed once, but refused any help after that while he and I pulled on our thick coats and gloves. After bundling ourselves up as much as possible, Chris led us out the door, not allowing so much as a last ditch restraint by Daylia or my dad.

Andy, Sora, and I piled into Chris's van and Chris knocked snow off the windshield before climbing into the driver's seat and turning on the van. He backed out of the driveway, nearly taking out a white blanketed mailbox as he did so.

After adjusting to the snowy driving conditions, Chris steadied his driving down the icy roads and through the hazy wind. Andy was at shotgun. Sora and I had crammed into the back seat. The Indigo Center on the eastern island was a ten minute normal drive away, but in snow it took twenty.

The suspension bridge connecting the main island with the eastern island was shuddering under the wind and Chris had to slow to a crawl to see ten feet ahead of us. The headlights cut a hazy beam through the never ending swell of snow and flying frost.

Not until after I'd clenched my knuckles white around the arm rests did Chris get on the off-ramp and cruise in an arc towards a flashing intersection. After two more intersections and a rickety left turn, we pulled into the parking lot of the Indigo Center.

Sora was rubbing his neck and looked like he was going to be sick of a migraine, but he was the first out of the van after Chris killed the engine. I climbed out after him.

I sunk and the snow rose above my ankles, some of it spilling into my boots. Sora snatched my gloved hand in his. This wasn't an affectionate gesture so much as to not get lost in the snow-induced fog swirling around us. We tromped together through the snow, with Chris and Andy trudging along after us.

I'm sure we were a sight to behold when we crossed the threshold of the sliding doors of the entrance to the Indigo. Sora's hair was almost white with snow and mine was all thrown over to one side because of the wind. We shook snow off our persons and kicked it off our boots before moving past the entrance.

The emergency room we'd just entered wasn't deserted. Apparently several people had tried to drive in the snowy tempest outside and not been as lucky as Chris in the trip and come to Indigo as the nearest medical center.

"Excuse me." Sora approached a passing nurse.

She walked on, hastily scribbling on her clipboard notes. A taller, male doctor passed.

"Hey, we're looking for—" Sora trailed off as the doctor kept his beeline path, not even giving Sora a side glance.

The woman behind the lobby desk was shuffling through stacks of files and paperwork, looking harassed and irritable. Sora stalked over.

"Excuse me, ma'am. We need—"

"Here's a board. Fill out the paperwork, a nurse will be with you shortly." The woman said automatically, handing him a medical form attached to a clipboard.

Sora took it, confused, "No, I'm sorry. I'm not—"

"Myrtle!" Andy called, shuffling in with Chris and walking over to the desk.

"Andy! I tell you. What part of 'don't drive in stormy weather' don't people seem to understand?" Myrtle fumed, "I tell you. People running off the road, hitting trees, falling down icy stairs."

"Yes, it's terrible. Look, these two are friends of that young man Dr. Young came in with about an hour ago. Now, his parents and another woman came in too. D'you know where they are?"

"Do I look like I know where anything is in this mess?" Myrtle said ill temperedly.

"Kairi! Sora!" I spotted my mom waving at us over near one of the corridors.

I latched on to Sora's arm and pulled him through the people to where my mom was standing. Chris followed. Andy waved us off, but stayed near the desk.

"Mom!" "Have you heard anything?" "Where're Tara and Don?" "Is Riku okay?" We bombarded her with questions, barely pausing for breath.

Mom gripped each of our shoulders, "Deep breaths, either of you having a stroke is the last thing we need. Sora, sweetheart, are you okay?" She asked, cupping Sora's face in one hand and inspecting the stitch work to his face.

Sora waved her off, "Peachy. How's Riku?"

"Yeah, where are his parents?" I asked, looking around.

Mom chewed the side of her lip, "Riku's…stable. He's not…He's been sedated. Don took Tara to get some air. She was upset."

Well, that was certainly understandable.

"Can we see him?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Mom looked at us both sympathetically, "I'm sorry, kids. Dr. Young's examining him."

"She did enough damage when she examined him the first time!" Sora barked.

Mom lifted a hand, "This isn't Dr. Young's fault."

Chris appeared, "Zura, how's it looking?"

While Mom relayed what she knew, Sora and I backed out of the conversation and leaned against the wall. My heart was hammering painfully against my ribs still and Sora was breathing heavily beside me. This was it: the fine line, the reality of it all.

Schizophrenia? Was it possible? It—it couldn't…to Riku? The most normal—well—healthy person we knew? What else would possess him to attack Sora like that? Was it Xehanort? I instinctively looked around, as if Xehanort was hiding behind the plants or crouching behind Myrtle's desk. No, Xehanort was dead…That left the answer of Riku being…

"Gah!" I burst out exasperatedly, pushing my wind blown hair out of my face.

Sora stood up straight and I followed his gaze. Dr. Young had approached Tara and Don, who had appeared at the end of the corridor. Tara looked so frail and Don looked so stony faced, I wanted to rush over and tackle the doctor. She had no right to give them more bad news!

Before I could crane my neck to study their expressions, Dr. Young was walking in our direction. My mom and Chris turned and greeted her with similar questions that Sora and I had posed. Dr. Young was wearing a sympathetic look that made me want to slap her. Sora was right, I didn't like her either.

"I can't allow any visitors right now. His condition is stable but very fragile."

"He's not fragile." Sora grumbled under his breath. I touched his arm. "When can we see him?" Sora asked a loud.

Dr. Young faced him, "We'll see how he is in the morning. Then…we'll see."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Sora folded his arms. When I agreed, he added, "We'll just camp out here until morning then."

Dr. Young turned to go, "Very well, but stop by my office before then and we'll talk." She paused, "You might want to put some ice on that." She pointed at his head before walking away.

**..:--X--:..**

**A/N**: And this chapter brings the fic up to date with chapter one. Chapter twelve will pick up right after the events of the first chapter. I feel like I kinda made Dr. Young out to be a bitch (pokes chapter) but I guess that was my unintentional intention. Ah well.


	12. Nightmares and Philosophy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. This chapter picks up where Chapter One left off. I got a little wordy this chapter and some parts are really weird, but trust me, it all comes together in the long run! Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Twelve: Nightmares and Philosophy**

I don't know how I got home that afternoon. I don't remember how long Sora and I stood staring through the glass. I don't remember Dr. Young talking to us afterwards, only Sora's arm gently taking mine and guiding me back to where our parents were.

The hours after seeing Riku were hazy and slipped like dry sand through my fingers. I wasn't aware of putting my coat back on or braving the storm to my mom's truck. There were voices in the hallways, but their forms were distant and slurred. The world seemed to have moved in slow motion, time had slowed for this occasion.

I couldn't recall going into my house or sitting on the couch. I was only aware of two things. Sora was one of them, never letting me go the entire trip. He was my lifeline, my last shred of reality, and my only remaining piece of what my life had been. If I had been in any state to form sensible words, I would have told him so. As it was, it was left to speculation. Either he knew how much I was depending on him now, and was holding me now because I needed him, or he needed me too, and was holding onto me for dear life because he was just as terrified as I was. Either way, he was there.

The only other thing I was aware of was that Riku was gone. I didn't want to believe it, think it, or even acknowledge it, but there it was. I had seen him with my own eyes. When his eyes had looked in our direction, there had been nothing there. The fire in his eyes was gone, leaving them vacant and defeated. I had given up trying to fight it. The truth was standing in front of me, blocking my path to blissful denial, spreading her arms and barring me from ignoring her.

I don't remember how long I was out of it, several hours at least. I didn't want to leave this hazy dimension I'd slipped into, where reality was so far away and with it all the pains and torments of life. I was reluctant to return to my body, in my house, in Sora's arms, where everything hurt and I couldn't stand on legs made of jelly.

We had to have sat on my mom's couch for three hours, not saying a word, not moving an inch, just wallowing in shock and sorrow, when my body just gave out and I fell asleep.

My dreams were more nightmarish than consciousness. I was alone on the island, in an invisible cage, stuck on the shore as the tide rolled in. I kept beating against the cage, fighting and fighting to escape, but all in vain. Finally, exhausted, I just collapsed inside, giving up as the tide began to cover me and drag me out into the ocean.

When I looked up, everyone was there: Sora, Riku, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka. They were all running around, laughing and ignoring me completely. I screamed and tried to get their attention. I was trapped, couldn't they see?! I needed help, why were they ignoring me!?

"Help! Help me! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" My voice came out like Riku's, repeating itself over and over.

I gasped and the cage diminished, throwing me out on the sand. By the time I'd scrambled to my feet, everyone was gone and it had started snowing. Faces moved through the falling snow and the wind wrapped around my legs, dragging me away from the shore and deeper into the island.

I was being dragged towards the Secret Place at the base of the Great Tree. The thought terrified me and I thrashed, writhed, and fought, but the grip was too strong. I was dragged into the tunnel, and I was spat out in front of the door with no handle.

Shaking, sick, and panicking, I ran at the door, pounding on the wood.

"Let me out! Help! I'm not crazy!" I grabbed at my throat.

Then cold, the deepest, most penetratingly painful cold I'd ever experienced, cut through the air and pierced straight to my heart, stopping my breath. I fell to the floor, which undulated under me, pushing me against the wall.

My lungs burning, I looked up and saw him. Xehanort. He was standing in front of the door, smiling at me with malicious, glowing eyes. No, it wasn't Xehanort. Well, it was Xehanort, but he looked like Riku. Before my eyes, the figure seemed to keep changing between Xehanort and Riku, laughing and screaming, proclaiming doom and calling out for help.

"I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!"

"Kairi!" Sora's voice slid into the cacophony, so close, and yet so far away.

Someone had seized my shoulders and was shaking me. I thrashed, grabbing at the arms holding me until my eyes flew open. Xehanort, Riku, and the Secret Place slurred in my waking dream and Sora's face swam through the images, repeating my name.

With a jerk, I snapped awake. Panting, I looked around, "Wh-Where—What—"

"Shh, shh. It's all right. You're okay." Sora soothed, rubbing my arm.

We were still on the couch at my house. The clock on the wall read a quarter past six in the afternoon. My dad ran in, looking haggard and wild.

"What happened?" He asked.

"She had a nightmare." Sora answered, then looking at me, "It was just a dream."

I was shaking, breathing heavily. Nausea swept through my body.

"Oh!" Sora dove sideways, snatching up a trashcan and shoving it in front me.

This was perfect timing as I heaved, retching into the trashcan. My dad pulled my hair back with sweaty hands and I clutched at the can as I emptied my stomach contents.

"Get some water." My dad said.

Sora scrambled up, squeezing my shoulder and darting into the kitchen. After a few seconds, he returned with a glass of water. My dad took it and rubbed my back.

"I'm okay." I managed, when there was nothing left to throw up, "That was just—horrible."

Dad handed me the water. I rinsed my mouth out and he took the can away.

"Hey," Sora sank down beside me, "It was a nightmare, nothing more. It's okay."

He looked exhausted, and the bruise on the side of his head was more pronounced than ever. What had happened? Then I remembered: Riku. Tears welled unwillingly in my eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Sora asked gently.

I shook my head, curling up next to him like a child. "I hate this." I whimpered.

"Yeah, me too." He said softly.

My mom walked in then, "Kairi, are you all right, sweetie? I was upstairs, I didn't hear you."

I looked at her, how could I be all right after what I'd just seen? Instead of yelling at her, I just sighed, "I'm fine, Mom."

She wasn't convinced, but didn't press me, "Sora, are you sure you don't want any ice for that? It looks nasty."

"Nah, it's okay." Sora waved her off.

I looked at him, at the purple and black bruises rising all over the side of his face, where Riku had struck him. "Sora, put some ice on it." I murmured.

Sora looked at me, exhaled, and looked at my mom, "I guess."

Mom nodded, satisfied, "I'll even throw in a few Tylenol. That headache's got to be horrid."

As she walked into the kitchen, I sat up, wiping my eyes stubbornly, "Sheesh, I need to pull it together."

"It's okay to cry sometimes." Sora offered.

"Yeah, well, you guys don't." I sniffed.

"Here we go." Mom walked in with a bag of ice and a bottle of headache medicine. "I talked to your dad, Sora, and we agreed you'd stay here for tonight."

We both blinked. My parents had never allowed any boys to stay the night, not even Sora and Riku when we were little kids. Now they were fine with it, and we were dating? Our astonished faces must have been obvious, because Mom chuckled, handing Sora the ice.

"I think you guys have been through enough today. It's not going to become an every day thing, either, so don't get used to it." She shook her head and walked off.

Sora threw back the Tylenol and swallowed without water before gingerly applying the ice to the bruise.

"Better?" I offered, smirking at the relieved look on his face.

The week passed in a haze, like molasses on a snowy winter day. Well, maybe the better term would be a snowy summer day, but that just sounded wrong.

Every day seemed to last a year, but time didn't seem to be taking affect on my mind. In a warped way, I had convinced myself that this wasn't really happening. It couldn't be happening. If there was a God out there, there was no way he'd punish us like this. Riku had fallen to darkness, sure, but he'd come out of it of his own will, right? He'd repented, hadn't he? What else did the cosmos want from him?

The blizzards had stopped and it hadn't snowed in the week following Riku's break. Sora and I made sure to visit him every day, for hours at a time. We were never able to properly see him; he was still being kept in that terrible padded room. We could only see him through the window-glass, and he couldn't even see us if he looked at us.

Given that he was oblivious to our presence, we still felt the need to go. It hurt to see him, but it was a healthy pain. I'd realized something over the last year and a half. Pain was undesired and rarely good, but it was healthy. It was a human reaction that shouldn't be ignored or pushed aside.

When my parents asked about the tribulation of Kingdom Hearts, I didn't grace them with the fluffy, watered down version of events. Not only was that disrespectful and degrading to the memory of those who had fought and died to restore the worlds, it just wasn't right.

If people continued to ignore the horror of the past, and just create their own cutesy account, they would only be building weak forts of protection: huts of straw when brick was required. Embrace that pain, and you better protected yourself against the agony the future held.

I stopped walking towards the Indigo Center, shaking my head. It was too early to be thinking so philosophical. My mind always wandered deep when I was going to visit Riku though. He had been my philosophy confidante. I could be complex and difficult with him. With Sora, everything was simple and easy going.

I had long given up trying to reason away my feelings towards my two best friends. Riku was the serious one, the sinner and the guilty. He was one of my best friends and the one who thought deep and would give up everything in a second to spare his friends from whatever evil he'd encountered. Sure, he was attractive and strong and if he was shirtless, I WAS going to stare, but that was COMPLETELY out of my control.

Sora…Sora was the love of my life, the pure one and the one who could brighten the pits of Hades with just one smile. He was the one who held me close until I could smell the sand and fruit on him. He was the goof and I loved him. He had looked darkness in the face and stuck his tongue out at it.

I reached the Indigo and spotted Sora's car. At first I tilted my head because I knew his birthday wasn't for another week so he couldn't have his license, but then I saw Chris inside talking to that horrible woman, Myrtle. I walked inside and said hello. Chris informed me that Sora was already 'there'.

The walk down the white halls was intimidating and depressing. I never looked into the other rooms anymore, too afraid that one day I would see Riku, completely given in to the illness.

Outside the last corridor I stopped to clear my head again. It was definitely too early for this.


	13. Awakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Woohoo! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, it might be a little rushed at the end, sorry. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Thirteen: Awakening**

I found Sora talking to Dr. Young when I approached Riku's room. I immediately became defensive. Dr. Young wasn't high on either Sora or my list of favorite people right now. The doctor looked grave and Sora looked irritated.

When I drew near enough, Dr. Young looked over at me, "Kairi, you're here now, good. I—I trust you'll want to be alone."

"You trust correctly." I hissed.

Not missing the dislike in my voice, she forced a smile and walked on down the hall.

"She wants me to fill you in. She's fine with ticking me off, but I think you scare her." Sora muttered, staring daggers into Dr. Young's back.

I rubbed the side of my head, "Maybe she saw me slap you. Fill me in on what?"

Sora exhaled so that his bangs fluttered, "Just the usual: Riku's nuts and will never recover. No, she was just updating me. She said he's been getting violent. 'Really?' I said." He gingerly prodded at the bruise on his head. They'd removed the stitches, now just covering it up with a thick pad of gauze.

"What did she mean 'violent'?" I asked.

"She said he tried to escape or something, attacked a few attendants." Sora said, peering into the chamber beyond the glass. "He—She said he's started becoming self destructive."

I turned too. Riku was pacing the width of the room. My heart ached with a fresh pain. His arms were constricted by that horrible straight jacket. His hair was matted and unkempt. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot. The circles under his eyes had deepened and there were four red scratches down either of his cheeks.

"What happened to him?" I asked, appalled at the marks.

"He did that to himself. They've had to sedate him three times in the last six hours." Sora shook his head, "Dr. Young said people with schiz—people who have—are like Riku, are rarely violent like this."

"So…what are they saying now? Riku's being violent, Schizophrenics aren't violent, thus Riku may not be Schizophrenic. So why is he being violent?" I thought aloud.

Sora shifted, watching me dance my mental circles, "Maybe he's just one of those rare cases. I don't want to believe that, but—"

"I've been thinking." I interrupted, "What if we're going about this the wrong way?"

Sora tilted his head at me, "About what?"

"This whole Schizophrenia thing. This whole time the doctors have been looking for the problem in his head, but what if it's really…in his heart?" I looked into the room.

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked.

I looked into the room again. Riku was still pacing, squirming his arms restlessly, his lips moving soundlessly, repeating that phrase that haunted my nightmares.

"We've both been banging our heads against the idea that Riku was seeing Xehanort, hearing Xehanort." I looked at him.

Sora lifted a hand, "And you're saying what exactly? That we were wrong? Kairi, he's—"

"Dead, I know, but remember what Riku told us right after we got back? About how he can never get rid of his darkness and how Xehanort would never truly be gone?" I chewed my lower lip.

Sora ran a hand through his hair, "Then how come—"

A dull thud from inside the room made us both turn. Riku was on the floor, wrestling against the jacket and for all appearances looking like he was having a seizure.

"Riku!?" I yelped.

"Hey! We need some help over here." Sora yelled down the hall.

Riku rolled over and maneuvered back onto his knees. I became aware of two things immediately then. One was that Riku's arms were free, the clasps unraveled, the sleeves bunching at his wrists. Two was that the window glass under my fingers was shaking.

Footsteps clacked down the hall and Dr. Young ran towards us, Andy just behind her.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Sora—" I stammered, grabbing at his sleeve.

Riku was quivering violently as he got to his feet. He swayed and staggered.

"How did he get loose of those sleeves?" Dr. Young asked. "Get a sedative."

Andy nodded, heading back down the hall.

"You can't cure him with sedatives. When are you going to start helping him?" Sora snapped.

"Sora—" I said again, choking.

Something wasn't right here. Something was wrong…very wrong. The glass was now shuddering more persistently. The lights overhead flickered once and then died. Emergency lights replaced them, illuminating the corridor again. Dr. Young looked around.

"You two should go. We'll take care of him." She said, beckoning them backwards.

"We're not going anywhere." Sora said aggressively.

"Sora!" I barked.

"What?" Sora turned, finally.

Riku had steadied suddenly. He stood, arms at his sides, staring at the right adjacent wall of the room. His lips weren't moving anymore, and his eyes were impossibly red…no, not red…orange.

As I looked closer, he turned. A wave of energy emanated from his gaze, sending ripples of black and purple tendrils rushing towards us. This wave hit the wall. The glass shattered, sending thousands of jagged shards at us. I screamed and threw my hands over my head.

"Kairi, get down!" Sora grabbed me, dropping on top of me on the floor.

Glass clattered across the floor around us. There were a few yelps of pain and Sora hissed and straightened. From my position sprawled across the floor, I looked up. Riku was climbing out of the now empty window pane, glass cutting into his hands and bare feet as he landed in the corridor.

Sora stood up, glass having lighted on his shoulders and in his hair, "Riku, take it easy." He lifted his hands, "We're your friends, remember?"

Riku turned sharply, eyes glowing orange. I cried out, getting up from the floor. Dr. Young groaned on the floor. I could see that several shards of glass had cut into her arms and up her shoulder. I scrambled over to her; she was unconscious.

"Sora, she needs help." I said, my voice high pitched.

"Riku, listen to me, man." Sora was saying, "Why don't we calm down and then we—"

A small, unpleasant grin spread across Riku's lips. "Don't bother." His voice had dropped an octave, now low and metallic and heartless. "Your voice can no longer reach him where he is."

Sora's eyes contracted and I saw that several small pieces of glass had cut into his arms and neck too, though not nearly as large or deep as to Dr. Young.

"What?" I asked, rising, "What is it?"

Without another word exchanged, Riku turned and sprinted down the hall. I just stared after him. Andy rounded the corner just as Riku reached him. His eyes widened for a moment, but then Riku had lifted a hand. More furls of darkness flowed obediently down his arm and blasted the paramedic against the wall. Riku continued around the corner.

"Come on!" Sora pulled me to my feet and we ran after him. Sora skidded to a stop in front of Andy, who looked winded but not injured. "Are you all right?" Sora asked.

Andy shook his head to clear it, "Been better. How did he get out?"

"We'll take care of that. Dr. Young's back there. She's unconscious, but she should be okay." Sora turned and ran around the corner. Wordlessly, I followed, ignoring Andy's yells to wait.

I had never been a contender in Sora and Riku's races across the beach. They left me in the dust so to speak. So I guess it was pure adrenaline that pumped my legs hard enough to keep up with Sora as he ran down one hall, turned this way, ran some more, turned again, and finally burst out into the lobby.

Riku's involvement here was present. Papers flew in all directions. People were lying on the floor as though they'd been flung there, and Myrtle was cowering behind her desk. The glass doors were shattered, leaving glass and bloody footprints in Riku's wake out to the parking lot.

"Sora! Kairi! What was that?" Chris was scrambling to his feet.

We ran by, not even slowing. He continued to yell after us, but my ears were too clogged with Riku's low, metallic voice to hear anything. Riku was out of sight of the parking lot.

"He can't have gone too far. Get in!" Sora barked.

We had reached Sora's new red car. Without preamble, Sora flung the driver's door open and climbed in. Without hesitation, I followed on the passenger's side. Chris and several Indigo security officials were spilling out onto the sidewalk.

Sora jammed the key into the ignition and turned it. The engine roared to life and Sora threw the stick into reverse. "Hold on." He snapped, turning to look through the back window.

Tires squealed as the car shot backwards, spinning on the asphalt. I hung onto the dashboard as the car straightened out. Sora jerked the gears into drive.

Chris was waving his arms, "Wait, guys, stop!"

The rest of his words were lost as tires squealed once more and the car thundered away from the Indigo. My fingers were clenched in a vice around the arm rests, but I looked around, scanning the area.

"Do you see him?" Sora asked, barreling the car out onto the open road.

"No, he's gone. Where did he go?" I asked.

"That's not Riku. It's Xehanort."

"What?!"

"I know that voice anywhere. Xehanort's back, and he's possessed Riku again."

I looked at him, "How—Why—"

"I don't know. We need to find him." Sora gritted his teeth, "Dammit!"

I bit my lip and thought hard, "Where was Xehanort last time he possessed Riku?"

Sora glanced at me, "Our island."

"Do you think he—" Something sparked in my mind, "The Secret Place."

"What?"

"The Secret Place, where the door to the heart of the world is! Where else would he go?"

Sora swung the car sharply onto an on-ramp, depressing the accelerator until the car groaned in protest, shooting forward onto the merger. "Then that's our best bet."

My pulse raced as Sora hammered the pedal. He weaved around the traffic as if the other cars were idling. I didn't look at the speedometer, but I could tell it was dancing across the far right side of the dial.

"I would prefer to be alive when we get there to help Riku." I managed.

Sora offered a strained grin, bucking the car onto the off ramp and back onto the local street. Several other cars swerved and blared their horns as the red car cut across traffic. We had to be going over ninety miles an hour.

"Shouldn't we have seen him? Riku can't run this fast." I yelped.

"Right now he's Xehanort. I bet he's already in the Secret Place, somehow." Sora suggested.

A light snow was beginning to fall again, oblivious to the commotion around it.

"Oh, Riku, hold on." I murmured, "We're coming."


	14. Light's Pariah

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine! So, not only do I live in tornado alley, USA, but it's also known as bipolar weather, USA. We had a tornado last week, and now an ice storm! Argh! We ended up with, like, two inches of ice on EVERYTHING, knocking out the power for almost a week, so I couldn't update when I wanted to. Old Man Winter's just messing with us now, I think. Anyway, I'll shut up about that now. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Fourteen: Light's Pariah**

Sora brought the car to a screeching halt on the beach, sending sand up in swirls. He killed the engine and started climbing out. I swung the door open and followed him around the car. I had never been prone to motion sickness, but after that ride, all I wanted was to kiss the solid earth under me.

Our little wooden row boats were tethered to the pier, including Riku's. At first, I felt panic. Riku's boat was still here, which meant he hadn't used it to go to the smaller island. Then I remembered what Sora had told me on the drive over. Xehanort had possessed Riku, which meant he could use a stash of dark magic to get somewhere fast.

Sora didn't seem at all discouraged at the presence of Riku's boat, scrambling around the pier to the dock where his father's boat was at port. He climbed up onto the deck, gesturing, "Come on, Kairi."

"Sora, do you know how to sail this thing?" I asked, climbing up after him.

Sora was already untying the rope binding the boat to the dock and moving up behind the helm, "It'll be faster than rowing. How hard can it be?" He flicked a few switches on the control panel.

The boat chugged awake, and apparently didn't like its new driver. It bucked in the water as Sora poked at a few more levers and switches. Eventually, through the system of guess and check, Sora hit the accelerator. The motor gurgled and water bubbled around the rudder as the boat edged away from the dock.

Sora jumped behind the helm again, guiding the boat out into the open water. I staggered for a moment, getting used to my sea legs. I was soon balanced and made my way to the bow, after deciding I wasn't in any more danger with Sora at the helm of a boat than I was with him behind the wheel of a car.

The wind was cold, blustery, and snow laden, but it was strong, and it filled the sails, aiding the motor and urging the boat faster over the choppy waters. Soon the island was looming ahead of us. The cold had numbed my face, but I didn't care.

Right before we would have run aground, Sora dropped the anchor and jerked the boat to an abrupt halt. At least half a dozen planks of wood splintered in protest. Sora moved over to the starboard side, looking ready to dive off and swim to the shore.

"Sora, hold up!" I asked, moving over beside him.

"Kairi, we don't have time. Riku's—"

"I know, but you'll freeze before we get to him if you jump in the ocean." I urged, tugging at his sleeve.

We lowered a dingy into the water and Sora rowed with a ferocity until we'd run up into the sand bank. We both scrambled out and ran up the beach towards the dark cave at the base of the Great Tree. Sora leapt over the rise in the beach, bounding towards the cave. I jogged up the plywood ramp instead, not blessed with Sora's jumping ability.

I felt like I should warn Sora, but my vocal chords seemed to have frozen, because I could hear him. I could hear Riku inside the Secret Place. We both ducked and Sora went first through the vines and undergrowth. I followed suite, ignoring the brambles that snagged on my shirt and bare arms.

We hurried at a crouching run down the winding tunnel that opened into the cave. The voice was growing louder as we drew nearer, though I couldn't make out the words spoken. It was colder here than the last time I remembered. Maybe that was because it was snowy and icy outside. My core told me otherwise and I repressed a shudder.

Sora skidded, slowing down. I slowed as well. We'd reached the mouth of the tunnel, opening into the little chamber beyond. The chalk lined doodles adorning the walls looked suddenly grotesque and sinister in the icy noon light. Sora shifted, motioning me to remain. I touched his back briefly, but he moved forward.

As he was removed from my immediate line of view, I peered into the cave ahead. The lumpy walls of the cave were interspersed with wooden stalks and withering vines. Riku stood with his back to us, still wearing the light blue Indigo patient-ware. There were bloody footprints leading to where he stood, and his palms were equally cut and bleeding, though if he felt any pain, he showed none of it.

Sora straightened, fists clenched at his sides, facing his friend's back. Before he could say anything, Riku…er…Xehanort…spoke.

"It was foolish of you to come." The cold, low tones made my bones tremble.

"You can't control Riku anymore. He's stronger than you." Sora hissed.

Xehanort didn't turn, "Yet here I stand, the victor. Sorry to lend a machete to the thicket of your hopes and dreams, but you forever prove my point again and again. You have come this far and still you understand nothing."

"Stop it!" I stepped out now. "Riku! Snap out of it! Come back to us!"

He turned and the orange glow of his eyes had completely eclipsed the blue of Riku's eyes. "Ah, Princess, what an honor, but you're too late. Riku has surrendered himself to the true essence of his heart. Darkness."

My blood boiled. Sora clenched his fists and took a step forward, "You're the one who still doesn't understand! The heart isn't pure of darkness, it's light. Or didn't your first attempt to open Kingdom Hearts teach you that?"

Xehanort gave a short, mirthless chuckle and faced the door again, "No matter what that little brain of yours keeps repeating in a mantra, the truth is unmistakable. Now, why don't you be a good boy and open the door again?"

Sora's jaw tightened, "No."

Xehanort flexed his arms and oily black tendrils of darkness wrapped around them, "Your cooperation doesn't stop me, it only prolongs your demise. I was hoping you would make this easier and cooperate, but if you won't—"

He spun quickly, lifting both arms. Like whips, the furls of blackness shot forward, lashing at Sora and me. I cried out as the vines of darkness slammed my back against the wall, wrapping around my legs, arms, and body so tightly I couldn't move. On the opposite wall, Sora was in the same predicament.

"Riku! Snap out of it! Fight him!" Sora yelled, struggling vainly against his bonds.

I couldn't speak, the vines wrapping around my throat and constricting my breathing.

Xehanort released the darkness from his arms, but the tendrils didn't fade. Like cold, gnarled fingers they remained, winding in rope-like bonds to pin Sora and me to the rock walls of the cave.

"Now, where was I?" He said, nonchalantly turning to examine the door again.

My lungs were crying out for air and my ribs were groaning as the bonds tightened, depleting my oxygen supply. Sora was wriggling in the darkness, but no matter how I tried, I couldn't even move.

"Riku—" I managed hoarsely, gasping for breath and receiving none, "Riku, please…You're hurting us."

Xehanort ignored me, running his bloody hands over the edges of the door, assessing how to open it and enter the heart of Destiny Islands. He was fading in and out, and the edges of my vision were blurring as my air-deprived body struggled to hold onto consciousness.

"Kairi!" Sora was yelling, though his voice sounded very far away, like a mere echo. "Kairi, hold on! Riku, stop it! You're killing her!"

In the deeper chambers of my mind, I registered that the tendrils gave just a little, offering scarcely an inch or so of slack. That was all I needed. I inhaled. I could only draw a shallow, whisper of a breath, but it was oxygen. Sweet, life giving oxygen like vapor nectar of the gods!

I lifted my head a little, still dizzy from lack of air, but sufficiently aware now. Sora was looking from me to Xehanort, his face flickering from concern to anger.

Xehanort was stepping away from the door, not looking put off or discouraged at all. "I don't need your little Keyblade to open locked doors." His voice was as smooth as silk, dripping with ill intention.

He raised a hand, palm out, facing the door. The frame of the wood began to quiver as wisps of darkness permeated it, penetrating the dimension beyond.

"Yes…" He cooed, eyes lax with satisfaction and desire.

Sora's wrestling with the vines tripled. Finally, he seemed to find a weak spot and managed to get his right arm free. Just as soon as he'd done that, however, the furls moved up his body and clamped around his throat, forcing him to struggle for the ability to breathe.

"Don't…don't do this." Sora was panting, "Riku, you've got to fight him."

Xehanort paused and for the briefest second, I thought Sora had broken through to Riku. However, when he turned to face us, his eyes were still flashing a fiery orange. He lifted a hand. The darkness dragged us away from the wall and deposited us on the ground, still clinging to our skin and making our limbs heavy.

"Submit." He murmured.

That one word, whispered like a puff of smoke in the breeze, attacked like a sword. It felt like my muscles were being forced to move, like my bones were magnets to the dirt floor. I fell to my hands and knees, hardly able to lift my head and gaze up at Riku. Sora remained standing, but I could see him trembling with the effort of it.

"I had enough of that the first time around." Sora snarled, taking one difficult step forward. "You can't open that door and you can't destroy the light. It'll never go out. So stop it already."

Xehanort regarded Sora with a dull curiosity, "Every light must fade. Every heart will return to the darkness whence it came. The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness. Now submit."

The heaviness doubled as he uttered the word again. I fell to my stomach on the floor, where my limbs trembled, struggling to rise again in vain. Sora stiffened, his knees bending slightly, but not giving any more than that.

The door was still quivering as the darkness tried to overcome it, but it didn't open. The walls of the cave were beginning to shake now too, little trickles of snow drifting in from the cracks in the ceiling.

"It's…already…been sealed." Sora said, taking another step closer to Xehanort.

Xehanort would not allow it, "SUBMIT!"

This time it was bellowed, a command, and the effect was immediate. The air was crushed out of my lungs again and Sora hit his knees, giving a Xehanort a clear shot. Xehanort swung his leg around to contact Sora's neck, but Sora dropped his head and launched forward, with what strength I'll never know.

He tackled Xehanort and pinned him to the door, which hissed and groaned in response. Xehanort lost his hold on the darkness out of surprise, and the darkness lifted, enabling me to get up, however shaky and unsteady.

Xehanort pushed Sora away and advanced on him. From where he'd hit the door, now a large, golden keyhole was visible, glowing brilliantly on the aged wood in the center of the door. There was a loud crash and Sora was flying across the room, pinned against the wall again by the darkness.

"A meaningless effort. Darkness is the eternal force which inhabits all hearts, all worlds, all things. Behold!" Xehanort turned and stretched one arm imploringly towards the door.

Black forks and furls flowed away from his hand at his command, dropping to the floor and slithering up to the door like a serpent.

My body froze of its own accord and my heart started pounding against my already sore ribs.

The door ceased to shudder and a loud, echoing click sounded from deep inside.

With a low creak, it began to open.

**..:--X--:..**

**A/N**: I hope I did Xehanort okay. He talks so weird in the game, and every time he yelled 'Submit!' I wanted to climb into the TV and shake him until he shut up. Bleh.

Now I get to go clear the frozen tree limbs from the driveway. I HATE ice storms! (dies)


	15. Parasite

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This storyline is mine. Over 100 reviews?! (explodes) Whee! Thanx reviewers! I like this chapter, even if it is a little weird. I feel like the end is a bit rushed, so please forgive. Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Fifteen: Parasite**

When the lock clicked, Sora and I both froze. The darkness released Sora and he dropped to his feet, crossing over to me and pulling me to my feet.

"What's happening?" I asked breathlessly, though it was pretty obvious what was happening.

Xehanort smiled unpleasantly, arm still extended towards the door. Sora had never really told me what had happened when he fought Xehanort the first time, when he'd locked Riku and King Mickey inside Kingdom Hearts. This had to have a ring of deja vue about it.

Sora knelt down, taking up a fist sized rock from the ground and standing slowly. Xehanort had his back to us, watching intently as the door resisted opening any farther.

I grabbed Sora's arm, "Don't." I hissed.

Sora looked at me painfully, "I can't let him destroy the islands again."

I pleaded silently, "There has to be another way. If you knock him out, he'll just wake up and start at it again. We have to stop this now."

Xehanort rolled his neck, dropping his arm, keeping his back to us, "N-No."

The stammer in his voice made Sora and me look up.

"Riku?" I asked taking a step forward.

"Not a-again. Not th-this time." He was muttering, shaking overtaking his form.

"Riku." I crossed the rest of the cave to him and grasped his arm.

He immediately turned, grabbing my arm and forcing me to my knees.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled.

"Sora, don't!" I warned, wincing as the pressure from Riku's grip nearly crushed my arm. I looked up at Riku. His eyes were flickering from orange to blue. "Riku, I know you're in there."

His lips were pursed to a thin line, barely moving, "I'm not…I'm not crazy, Kairi." He said it in a low voice, barely above a whisper, full of desperation and pleading.

"I know. We both know that, Riku. You have to know that." I said, involuntary tears flooding my eyes as his fingers closed more tightly around my arm.

Sora dropped his rock, sweeping around behind Riku, out of my line of vision. I kept my eyes on Riku's, which suddenly flashed orange.

"Don't speak of things you don't understand." The low voice slipped from Riku's lips and just as abruptly, so did Riku's voice, "I'm sorry. I don't—I don't want to hurt you."

"Then don't. You're in control, Riku. Xehanort can't do anything unless you let him." I said with as much conviction as I could.

Riku sank to his knees in front of me, his grip loosening, if only minimally. "You can't make me do this." He was talking to Xehanort, then Xehanort was replying. "I already have."

"No, no he hasn't! He's nothing without you, Riku! He needs you! Not the other way around!" Tears streamed freely down my cheeks.

"Is this all a Princess of Heart is capable of? Soft words and tears?" Xehanort smiled. The smile immediately faded to gritted teeth, "You have to get away from me." Riku pleaded with me.

Fingers slackened around my wrist and I jerked backwards, but didn't stand up. "No, Riku. We're staying here. Let us help you."

Riku grimaced and lifted a hand to his head. When he looked up, Xehanort was in control once more, "This world has been connected. You're a fool, Princess."

Sora flew in out of nowhere, a short, thick stalk of wood in hand. He jumped on Xehanort's back, throwing the stalk around his neck and pulling backwards. Both of them fell backwards, Xehanort landing on top of Sora.

"Don't hurt him!" I yelled to Sora.

"No promises!" Xehanort snarled, twisting around and trying to dislodge Sora.

Sora pulled to the side, successfully pushing Xehanort off of him so that their positions reversed. Sora was on his knees, straddling Xehanort's stomach, pressing the wood against his neck. Xehanort choked, grabbing at the wood.

"Sora, stop! It's me, it's Riku! I can't breathe!" He yelled.

"Shut up!" Sora hissed. "I can tell my best friend from a maniac like you!"

"Can you?" Xehanort laughed, lifting his leg and kicking Sora in the back.

Sora was flung head over heels, though clinging to the wood. Xehanort released him and Sora rolled across the floor, bumping to a stop against a boulder. Xehanort rounded on me.

"I find it ironic that you say you believe your friend, that he isn't crazy, that you can tell him apart from a maniac like me." He tilted his head, "When in reality, you left him in a ward and attacked him with a stick." He laughed, glancing back at Sora. "Just how much exactly do you know about your friend Riku?"

Sora got to his feet, lifted his stalk of wood, and swung like a baseball bat, aimed at the small of Xehanort's back. I cried out as Xehanort turned, catching the wood in his bare hand and jerking it out of Sora's.

"Riku, please! We're your friends, please stop!" I cried out.

Xehanort spun quickly, wood in hand. Before I knew what happened, I was sprawled out across the floor, my shoulder searing. Xehanort had hit me hard with the wood, slamming it down on my shoulder so hard it shattered into splinters. Pain riddled up my arm when I tried to move it; it felt dislocated from my shoulder.

Smack! Xehanort staggered sideways as Sora's fist crashed into his jaw.

"Riku, wake up! You have to beat this guy, damn it! You just attacked Kairi!"

Xehanort looked at me, mouth bleeding from a busted lip, eyes clear blue and full of horror. "Kairi—" He lifted a hand towards me.

I didn't mean to, but instinctively, I cringed, shrinking away from him. Riku's eyes widened in hurt and he fell to his knees, bending low and holding his face in his hands. Sora skirted around him, blocking me from his reach.

"Come on, Riku, you're not weak like this. We can't beat him for you!" He barked, then more gently, "We're here, Riku, we'll always be here to help, but you have to do the fighting."

A low, gurgling noise drew my attention back to the door. It had paused, having opened only a few inches, smoky wisps of darkness dancing out of the crack.

"You can't…help me." Riku's voice was soft, strained. "He'll never be gone. I'm sorry."

"No, no you're not!" Sora shook his shoulders, "You don't get to apologize. Stop sounding so defeated. You're Riku, come on!"

Riku's hands shot out, finding Sora's throat and tightening their hold, effectively cutting him off midsentence. "It is futile. Submit!"

Sora gasped and I saw little rivulets of blood trickle from his neck where Xehanort's fingers dug into him. I dragged myself up off the floor and limped over to the door, pushing against it with my good shoulder. I had seen the land beyond this door; I didn't want to see it again!

"Stop it. Stop it! Stop." Riku was mumbling, as if ordering his hands to relinquish their vice-like grip on Sora's windpipe.

Sora's face was turning red, but he wasn't saying anything. Instead, he just stared into Riku's eyes as his oxygen supply depleted.

The door was pushing against me now, and it was winning the battle for ground. I looked over as both boys broke apart, Sora staggering and gasping for breath, Riku struggling to remain standing, but he was back to Riku.

"He's—he's still—" Riku bent over, hands on his knees, and coughed. He released one long groan that seemed to tear itself from every fiber in his body.

The door shuddered violently against me and I stumbled aside. The door flung itself open. A wave of cold shadow burst forth, dimming all the spare light we had. The shadow rolled across the ground and fell on Riku, throwing him flat on his back.

I started towards him, but Sora stopped me. There was a strange look in his eyes that held me from questioning. So we both just turned and looked at Riku.

The darkness was furling around him, fingers of oily black licking at his skin, but recoiling just as quickly as if stung or burnt. Riku arched his back, mouth stretched wide, but not screaming, not making a sound actually.

Then something changed. It was like the darkness was being pulled away, like an elastic band pulled tight enough to snap. Strands of it that had attached to Riku's skin, mostly around his chest, were wrenched away, dragged back into the depths of the door. Likewise it pulled Riku back to his feet.

Just as suddenly as it started, the darkness seemed to pulse, turning tail and retreating into the door. Tendrils of it ripped themselves from Riku's mouth, ears, nose, eyes, and chest, curling in on themselves and doubling back past the wooden frame.

Light returned to the cave through the cracks overhead. Riku teetered on his feet, stumbling over to the door, which was waiting innocently. As he approached, the door slowly swung closed with a gentle thud of finality. The keyhole shone brazenly across the surface of the wood. Riku reached out with one hand and rested his palm across the keyhole.

A short burst of wind gushed down through the hole and the leading entrance tunnel, reminding us of just how cold it was outside. A loud, echoing click greeted our ears and Riku dropped his hand, turning to look at us slowly.

All of the color in his face had fled, leaving him looking bloodless and chalk white, a trait offset by the crystal blue clarity of his eyes. I managed back to my feet, and Sora moved forward.

"Riku?" He asked trepidly.

Riku looked at him, swaying and confused. "Sora? Kairi?"

"Riku!" Sora shamelessly threw his arms around Riku, "I knew it! I knew that creep didn't stand a chance!"

I smiled through a wince, "What was that?" I looked from Riku to the door and back to Riku.

For a moment, he looked relieved, like a massive burden had been lifted from his shoulders. His eyes closed soon after and his knees gave out and he slumped against Sora, who grabbed him and lowered him to the floor.

"Is he all right?" I asked, limping over faster, fresh tears dripping from my jaw.

Sora nodded, not bothering to wipe away the tears welling in his own eyes, "Now he is." He shook his head, looking over at the door, "I don't know what that was."

I knelt down on Riku's other side, suddenly exhausted, "We should get some help."

Sora nodded, but made no move to get up, "Maybe we could wait…just a minute."

Just then, Chris's voice yelled from outside, "Sora? Kairi? Are you in there?"

I smiled, looking up from Riku to Sora, "Minute over."

Chris stumbled in moments later, followed by my mom and three Indigo officials.

"What's the matter with you, taking off like that?!" He bellowed.

Sora faced his father, "You're a little late to the party."

My mom swept me up in her arms, "Oh, there's time to argue later. Let's get them out of here."

Sora lifted a hand, "Not the Indigo Center. Tomas and Kora's house is closer."


	16. Balance

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, its characters or storyline. This story is mine. Kelly is mine too (chuckle, chuckle) Guh, I'm terrible at ending stories. I really tried though! Reviews are love!**

**..:--X--:..**

**Chapter Sixteen: Balance**

"Haha! See 'em and weep!" Sora cackled, jingling the silver ring of keys in front of Riku's face.

Riku waved him off, "You must have paid someone. There's no way they let you pass."

Sora faked offense and pouted, "Kairi saw me in action, right? After chasing you down, that lousy driver's test was a piece of cake!" He punched at the air triumphantly.

I satisfied him with a small smile, "Of course you did. We'll just leave out the part where I was fearing for my life."

Riku tilted his head at Sora as if to say: Told you so.

It had been a week since the incident in the Secret Place. Incident was all we could think of to call it. Our parents had pestered us nonstop about what had happened, but none of us could explain, because we ourselves couldn't really understand it.

Riku had been unconscious for a few days afterwards, and when he'd woken up, he'd been disoriented for a while, not understanding why my arm was in a sling and half of Sora's face was bruised purple. We didn't have the heart to tell him his hands had caused the injuries, but I guess he figured it out, because he was quiet for a while before apologizing profusely.

It wasn't his fault of course. Xehanort had been possessing him. That's what made this so strange. One minute, Riku was losing the battle for his body with Xehanort, then he was attacked by the darkness inside the heart of Destiny Islands, and then he was back to normal—as normal as he ever would be? It made no sense. When had anything in our lives made sense though?

We were sitting together in Tomas and Kora Gale's house, where Riku had been staying under a medical eye. They had run all sorts of tests on him and were unable to find any trace of anything wrong with him, physically or mentally. Sora said it was all a conspiracy by Dr. Young, who had NOT been the one to test Riku again for Schizophrenia. We hadn't seen her at all lately, come to think of it.

Sora folded his arms, "You guys are mean." He turned away in a huff, "Speaking of fearing for your life, who're these from?" Sora turned, pointing at an elaborate bouquet of flowers tied to a bright yellow 'Get Well Soon' balloon. There was a little pink card hanging off it.

"No! Hey!" Riku lunged forward, trying to snatch at it, but Sora swatted him away and opened the card.

I recognized that mischievous, evil look in his eyes. "Who're they from?" I asked, grinning.

Riku looked at me in torment, pleading.

" 'Dear Riku,' " Sora read with a high girly voice and heavy accent, " 'I hope you feel better soon. Sincerely, Kelly' " Sora sighed and held a hand over his heart, fluttering his eyelids at Riku, who snarled and snatched at the card again. Sora dangled the card out of his reach and looked at it again, "Oh, check it out. She even left her number!"

"I'm going to kill you!" Riku settled for shoving Sora to the floor.

Sora rolled onto his backside, laughing uncontrollably. I took the card from him and replaced it next to the flowers. "I think they're nice. It's a sweet thing to do." I defended.

"Sweet?" Sora sat bolt upright, "He's never spoken to the girl! You like stalkers or something?"

I shook my head, "You're terrible."

Riku had turned scarlet, whether from anger at Sora or embarrassment over the flowers, I couldn't tell. Either way, he pulled his knees closer to his chest, grumbling.

"So, when are they letting you go home?" I asked, changing the subject while Sora pulled himself off the floor.

"Maybe tomorrow." Riku answered, latching onto the conversation change, "They're still making sure I won't go throw babies off a cliff or something."

"Yeah, that might not bode well." Sora said thoughtfully. "What about your parents?"

Riku shrugged, "I'm an only child. They can't worry about me throwing their babies." He sobered, "They're still kinda shook up. I guess they have a right to that though."

"I bet they're grateful you're all right." I offered softly. "I know we are."

Sora put his hands behind his head, "Baby-thrower or not, we were worried about you."

"I know," Riku dropped his gaze, "and I'm just sorry about—that I—" He glanced fleetingly at the bandages around Sora's neck, the bruise, and my sling.

Sora frowned, "You weren't you, so stop blaming yourself."

"But if I had been strong enough to stop him—" Riku said quietly.

"You were. You did stop him, remember?" I urged.

Riku rubbed his head, "I don't remember that much after Dr. Young told me I had Schizophrenia. It's all hazy and fleeting images. I do remember the door though." He looked up at us, "The door in the Secret Place. It opened, didn't it?"

"Yeah." I said nervously.

Riku squinted, "After it opened, everything started hurting. It felt like something was trying to pull me apart, from the inside out. Like it was trying to peel muscle from bone and—"

"We get it." Sora made a face.

"Anyway, then it just stopped and everything felt all tingly and numb." Riku shrugged, "Then I was waking up here."

Sora leaned over the footboard of the bed, "You missed all the fun with the weather."

I shifted and looked at him, "You call shoveling snow for three days fun?"

He shrugged, "It was after we started throwing it at people walking by."

"Yeah, I'm sure Mr. Gibson enjoyed it." I said sarcastically. Sora's grin flat lined and Riku lifted an eyebrow. I explained, "Sora threw a whole shovelful of snow in Mr. Gibson's face and when he saw it was our teacher, he hid behind the bushes. Then—" I looked at Sora for confirmation.

Sora glared, "I got stuck in the bushes and Tidus had to pull me out."

Riku snorted, "Can't believe I missed THAT."

I nodded, "Oh, it was good."

"Well, maybe tomorrow afternoon, I could join in the 'fun with the weather'." Riku offered.

" 'Fraid not, amigo. Seems like something knocked the weather upside the head with a mallet, because it suddenly remembered summer was supposed to be hot." Sora pointed to the window.

Rivulets of water were running down the pane of glass. The snow had suddenly begun to melt as the temperatures rose a few days after the Secret Place incident. It had weathermen blithering and meteorologists sputtering to explain. Not that anyone would believe them anyway.

I had no complaints. I had only ever known the hot, tropical weather. Cold and snow was climate shock and I was not sorry to see either go.

There were a few light knocks on the door and Tomas poked his head in. "How's the patient?"

"Hi, Tomas." I greeted.

"Man, you guys are all a mess, aren't you?" Tomas looked from Sora's face to my shoulder to Riku. "How are we doing?"

Riku groaned, "I'm ready to get out of this room. No offense."

Tomas waved him off, "It's probably going to hit around upper forties this afternoon. There won't be any snow left by the end of the week. You'll just have to wait until actual winter to frolic in the snow, Riku."

I walked over to the window and eased it open. The air's cold breath wafted against my face and droplets of water dripped on my hands. "Looks like it." I stated, reaching out to the snow on the ledge.

Tomas shined his light in Riku's eyes, ears, mouth, and checked his temperature, while Riku grumbled and wriggled uncomfortably, "Well, you seem perfectly healthy to me."

"Yet you insist on condemning me to this infernal bed." Riku said dramatically, glaring at the mattress as if it were his mortal enemy.

Tomas hung his stethoscope around his neck, "Never can be too careful. How's your shoulder, Kairi?"

I looked at my arm, hanging in the sling, "It's…better. Still sore."

"That's good…the feeling better part. The soreness should work itself out in a few days. Sora, how's your face?"

"It's killing me." Riku raised a hand, blocking Sora's face.

Sora stuck his tongue out at him like a child, "It's fine."

"Oh no, are those keys?" Tomas said, eying the keys in Sora's hand.

Sora displayed them with a smug look, "Oh yeah!"

"So, they let you drive legally after your little escapade last week?" Tomas joked.

Sora didn't look put off at all, "They recognize mad driving skills when they see them."

Riku shook his head, "My mom won't give my keys back yet."

"Well, that makes you a loser and makes me awesome!" Sora chortled.

I balled up a bundle of slushy snow into a sad snowball and pulled it inside, handing it to Riku, "Feel better, Riku. Here, have a snowball."

Sora laughed, "Yeah, who's all big and bad with a car now? Ha—"

He was cut off abruptly as Riku grabbed up snowball from my hand and threw it. The mass of ice and snow slammed into Sora's face, sufficiently silencing him.

"Oh, these are very nice." Tomas asked, regarding the bouquet.

Riku's victory with the snowball was short lived as now Sora jumped on this new opportunity to embarrass his best friend.

"They're from Kelly!" He said in a singsong voice.

Before Tomas could ask, Riku reached out, snatched Sora's keys from his hand, and threw them out the window. Sora stood, mortified, staring at his empty hand as a soft thud outside told of the keys landing in the garden outside.

Sora dropped his head, "I hate you."

Riku sat back, arms folded, victorious, "Fetch."

Tomas turned to leave the room, "You might want to get those. We have a gopher out there that has a fetish with shiny objects."

Sora darted out of the room, leaving Riku and me alone.

Riku grinned from ear to ear, reveling in his victory. He was out-embarrassing Sora, the world was right again. I paused, taking that in. He hadn't genuinely smiled in a while. He could have been killed or lost in his own head, but instead, he was okay and smiling again.

"Riku?" I asked, walking over to him.

"Yeah?" He asked, dropping his arms.

"I'm glad you're better." I leaned in and put my good arm around him.

He paused, but then hugged me back, "Thanks. I mean, for helping me. Without you and Sora, I don't think I could have fought him. Fought him and won at least."

I straightened, smiling and tilting my head, "What're friends for, right?"

Sora's voice came through the window, "Hey! Gimme those keys! Drop 'em!"

Riku and I exchanged a look and then burst out laughing, the mental image of Sora chasing after a gopher with his keys rising in our minds.

Outside, the sun glinted across the melting snow, returning the balance of summer and our lives.

**..:--X--:..**

**A/N**: The return of humor! As terrible as I am at endings, I'm even worse at sad endings, so I gave this one a happy one!

This story might not have been continued if I wasn't encouraged by my reviewers! So…(opens book) I would like to thank: Shiba-X, ChibiFrubaGirl, Smiley Smackdown, Catemonster, Kairi1624, Exylim, Sora788, Kiss of the Breeze, DragonMaster Reborn, chibi heishi, Kanpa, and DarkEriksRedRose.

You guys are awesome! (gives lifetime supply of pie)


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